Whack-a-mole Drug War: Escalating the Drug War in Arizona

Escalating the Drug War in Arizona: "...there is much common ground in federal and state assessments of the threat that illegal drugs pose to border security, as well as extensive cooperation in common drug –fighting strategies. Indeed, federal criminal justice grants underwrite the anti-narcotics operations of the state government and local law enforcement agencies.

There’s nothing new about this federal, state, local collaboration in the domestic war on drugs. In fact, what’s especially striking is just how old and static are the federally funded drug control strategies and programs in Arizona.

What is new, however, is how the current alarm about border security is stimulating traditional drug war operations in Arizona. Anti-narcotics task forces at the local level are benefiting from new DOJ assistance and from the increased participation of federal agents deployed to the state in the name of border security. New sources of federal anti-narcotics funding are also spurring increases in drug-related forensics, arrests, prosecutions, and imprisonment in Arizona."