The United States 'War on Drugs', which began in the early 1980's, has increasingly relied on military action to reinforce their anti-drug laws.  The premise for the declaration of a 'war' against drugs can be found in a long history of prohibitionist laws in our country.  Beginning in the early 1930's with the prohibition of hemp and marijuana, the legislation against drugs has always been accompanied by an underlying moral concern.

Here is an excerpt from Harry J. Anslinger, the U.S. Commissioner of Narcotics from "The Murderers: The Story of Narcotic Gangs" -
Much of the most irrational juvenile violence and that has written a new chapter of shame and tragedy is traceable directly to this hemp intoxication. A gang of boys tear the clothes from two school girls and rape the screaming girls, one boy after the other. A sixteen-year-old kills his entire family of five in Florida, a man in Minnesota puts a bullet through the head of a stranger on the road; in Colorado husband tries to shoot his wife, kills her grandmother instead and then kills himself. Every one of these crimes had been proceeded (sic) by the smoking of one or more marijuana "reefers." 
But now we know:
Some 10,000 studies have been done on cannabis, 4,000 in the U.S., and only about a dozen have shown any negative results and these have never been replicated.-
From The Emperor Wears No Clothes, by Jack Herer

 The demonization of the drug user has been used on numerous occasions to justify the harsh legislation surrounding illegal drugs.  The United States has declared war on drugs using 'moral issues' as the basis of media attention regarding drug policy.  Prompting moral reasons for the 'war on drugs', the federal government induces what may be called, a 'moral panic' and the creation of a drug scare.  For example, 
President Bush has said: "We must reduce drug use for one great moral reason: Over time, drugs rob men, women, and children of their dignity and of their character. Illegal drugs are the enemies of ambition and hope. When we fight against drugs, we fight for the souls of our fellow Americans." (from the Office of National Drug Control Policy)

Even after two decades of war against drug use, there has been no reduction in the amount of drugs and drug users in this country.  Instead, more money is spent, more military is added to the fight, and more people are getting hurt.  The government has continued a failed supply reduction plan, while the demand is the same, doing nothing but reaching further and further into the policies of international governments.

Certification:

In the name of the 'war on drugs', the United States government has initiated an extension of U.S. anti-drug policy to other countries around the world who are characterized as leading producers or traffickers of illegal drugs.  Enacted by Congress in 1986, the Certification process was meant to demand tougher anti-narcotics measures by other countries.  The countries then face mandatory sanctions if the U.S. does not feel they have complied with our efforts to reduce drug trafficking and production.  Of the countries listed to be certified, Mexico is an important one because of its close proximity to our borders.  According to the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), in the report "Failing to Make the Grade: The Case Against U.S. Drug Certification Policy" in 1999, "there is mounting evidence that even with full-fledged cooperation by Latin American governments, interdiction and 'source country' programs cannot deliver what drug warriors promise". 

 The influence of U.S. anti-drug laws upon those in Mexico is quite clear- they have been modeled and for the most part, funded by the same agencies who have failed to solve the problem in the U.S.