Can Latin America Win the War on Drugs?
Simon Whistler · February 11, 2026 · 19 min video · Americas
Free 2-minute preview. The full 19 minutes is for Insiders.
What this episode covers
Explore the complexities of the war on drugs in Latin America and the potential for a new approach to tackle this long-standing issue.
Chapters
- The War on Drugs Is UnwinnableIn the free preview
- The Real Reasons the Drug War FailedIn the free preview
- How Latin America Can Actually WinInsiders
From the transcript
"It's not every day that we get the chance to start by paraphrasing legendary rock band The Clash, but we fought the drugs and the drugs won." This isn't our assessment, but that of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, which back in 2011 released a report saying that the Global War on Drugs had " failed with devastating consequences for individuals and
Societies around the world." And it has been repeated multiple times since then, including in 2024 by Volker Turk, UNI Commissioner for Human Rights, who said, and will quote him here, "criminal ization and prohibition have failed to reduce drug use and failed to deter drug-related crime." These policies are simply not working.
However, despite these repeated assertions that the War on Drugs has failed, it has continued to be a major issue, especially in the Western Hemisphere.
This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.
Fronts Insider
Watch the full 19 minutes with Fronts Insider
This episode is one of 127 exclusives made only for Insiders.
$5 a month
or $50 a year
- This episode and all 127 Insider exclusives
- 876 WarFronts and HomeFronts videos without sponsor reads
- Every Insider article
- Cancel any time, 30-day money-back guarantee
Already an Insider? Sign in
Not ready to join?
Get WarFronts Weekly, our free email on the week's conflicts.
A free account unlocks one Insider article a month. Videos are for Insiders only.
Keep going on this story
Anything marked Free needs no account
