Whack-a-mole & U.S. - Mexico Relations: U.S., Mexico Agree on Actions to Curb Cross-border Drug Trade

Groundbreaking news in the war on drugs! The U.S. and Mexico have agreed to "initiate a binational demand reduction study." Actually - and sadly - it is more of the 'same-old same-old.'

U.S., Mexico Agree on Actions to Curb Cross-border Drug Trade: "The United States and Mexico on Friday agreed to boost joint efforts to fight rampant cross- border drug trafficking.

A series of actions were identified for the coming year at the third meeting of the Merida Initiative High-Level Consultative Group, co-chaired by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her Mexican counterpart Patricia Espinosa at the U.S. State Department.

The two sides agreed to intensify efforts to more effectively share and employ intelligence to weaken the capacities of transnational criminal organizations, give greater priority to counter illicit financing and weapon trafficking efforts, accelerate and broaden support for state-level administration of justice reforms, continue collaboration on extraditions, make significant progress in upgrading border infrastructure, increase the capacity to prevent and address violence and criminality in the border region, and initiate a binational demand reduction study in the context of the annual U.S.-Mexico Drug Demand Reduction Conference.

"The criminality and violence associated with the actions of transnational criminal organizations continue to threaten the security and prosperity of both our nations, and therefore multi- faceted, cooperative efforts to combat and reduce that violence are a priority for both the U.S. and Mexican governments," the two sides said in a joint statement."