Recent state-level changes in drug policy have raised the prospect that similar changes in federal policy may one day follow. Any such changes will have profound effects on U.S. relations with its neighbors to the south. This thesis attempts to analyze the effects of U.S. drug policy on the overall character of U.S. relations with Latin America. U.S. policy and actions have created a pattern of relationships and side effects in Latin America that can help predict how a continuation, or a change, of current U.S. drug policy may alter U.S. relations with Latin America and influence social and political conditions within the major drug-producing countries of the region. This thesis also seeks to explore policy alternatives to curtail drug related crimes and health issues, which current prohibitive policies exacerbate, and outlines steps to help new policies reach actual implementation.