Peaceful, Market Alternatives to the Drug War?

I seemed to have missed this last week:

The presidents of  the Latin American countries attending the eighth summit meeting of the Tuxtla System for Dialogue approved a formal request to the United States and other drug consuming countries that they curb drug consumption or, if they are unable to do that, act to regulate the drug market.

The declaration also included a demand that the U.S. stop the transit of arms to the criminals that provoke violence and the deaths of civilians and members of the security forces in Latin American and Caribbean nations.

…What would be desirable, it stated, “would be a significant reduction in the demand for illegal drugs. Nevertheless, if that is not possible, as recent experience demonstrates, the authorities of the consuming countries ought then to explore the possible alternatives to eliminate the exorbinant profits of the criminals, including regulatory or market oriented options to this end. Thus, the transit of substances that continue provoking high levels of crime and violence in Latin American and Caribbean nations will be avoided.”

See some of my recent drug-war-foreign-policy posts here, here, here, and here. If you explore the links, you’ll see how the U.S. has ignored and resisted previous such declarations by Latin American leaders.