Context of No Country for Old Men

No Country for Old Men takes place in the 1980s on the United States/Mexico border. Leading up to this time period, drugs were identified as a threat to the nation. On July 14^th, 1969, President Nixon told congress drugs were a serious threat and they needed to take action. In June 1971, Nixon declared a “war on drugs”. As time goes on, the war on drugs in not won. In the early 1980s, the main drug trafficking route was through Florida. To combat this, Florida creates a South Florida Drug Task Force. Because of the task force, cocaine trafficking transport routes are changed. In the mid-1980s, the Mexican border is the major route for drug trafficking. In the early 1980s, the first form of crack is developed. Crack becomes very popular in New York. The main route of transfer for cocaine is over the Mexican border. Smuggling drugs over the border was a bloody task. Trading drugs went hand in hand with violence. In the 1980s, the main drug cartel was Pablo Escobar’s Medellin drug cartel. The cartel was extremely powerful and known to be very violent. When the violence was the worst, a hundred police officers were killed in a month.

Sources:

https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9252490

https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/no-country-old-men#his