중남미

Forced eradication of opium poppy has been the dominant response to illicit crop cultivation in Mexico for decades. Forced eradication appears to deliver fast results in suppressing poppy cultivation, but the suppression is not sustainable even in the short term. Farmers find a variety of ways to adapt and replant after eradication. Moreover, eradication undermines public safety and rule of law efforts in Mexico, both of high interest to the United States. Instead of strengthening bonds between local populations and the Mexican state, forced eradication alienates local marginalized populations from the state and thrusts them more firmly into the hands of Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs).