The criminal death toll in Mexico is truly staggering (Blood on the streets: After the deadliest year in modern times, few see elections as the answer, 26 June). Presumably the vast majority of these are drug-trade related, but there would be no trade if suppliers were not meeting a demand. I continue to be dismayed that there is no continuing awareness campaign aimed at recreational drug users in this country to highlight the trail of death and degradation necessary to supply their habit.

I remember the anti-fur campaigns of the 1980s playing a considerable part in shaming wearers of animal fur, and something along those lines might be considered in relation to drug use today, regardless of the legalisation/decriminalisation debate. It cannot be stressed enough that users should accept responsibility for the misery and death they cause through drug trafficking, and unless they can be certain the product they are inhaling or shoving up their nose is ethically sourced (and organically grown?), they should be forced to recognise this.

John Keane

London

• Your article about Mexico’s security crisis in the run-up to the July elections obscures the fact that strategies purported to tackle criminal violence are often themselves responsible for human rights violations.

Last December Mexico enacted the interior security law, normalising the intervention of armed forces in public security activities and linked to a growing trend in Mexico towards the use of excessive force in situations of social protest. Peace Brigades International (PBI) has provided protection to at-risk human rights defenders in the country since 2000, an experience that has shown us that in the federal states where a security strategy based on militarisation has been implemented, attacks against activists have increased significantly.

The violence linked to the elections is particularly affecting human rights defenders and journalists. While electoral debate focuses on criminal violence and militarised responses, it is concerning that civil society initiatives to tackle human rights issues – such as Chihuahua’s early warning system and contingency plan to address the structural causes of violence against defenders – are being put on hold for electoral reasons. Encouragement of such civil society processes should be the first step in strengthening the rule of law in the country.

Catriona Rainsford

Communications officer, Peace Brigades International UK

• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com

• Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters