Drug Availability in High Schools in a Border Town: A Case Study Pertinent to Federal Drug Interdiction and Border Security Operations

Abstract

Over the past couple of decades, the U.S. has spent billions of dollars on the “war on drugs”, with a sizeable portion of the funds going to interdiction efforts along the U.S.–Mexico border. The focus on interdiction is based on the thesis that one of the best means of curbing illegal drug use is to prevent illegal drugs from entering the country. As a means of examining the efficacy of drug interdiction operations, this paper provides an analysis of data on the availability of drugs in high schools in a border town; data which were gathered from a survey of high school students who reside in one of the most heavily fortified regions along the U.S.–Mexico border. The majority of students reported that it is easy to purchase marijuana, cocaine, and rohypnol in the schools; findings which suggest the escalation of interdiction efforts along the border has failed to halt the flow of illegal drugs into the U.S.