Headlines from Tuesday’s high-level security summit emphasize the announcement of a more social approach to the issues at the root of Mexico’s Drug violence.

That may sound like good news to a public that has grown weary of the military strategy that has claimed 18,000 Mexican lives in the past 3 years, but the announcement was short on specifics on just how this new social strategy will be carried out. Also without concrete details was the US promise to try to curb demand at home – the world’s most lucrative drug market.

Other new bi-national initiatives will include the sharing of information on convicted criminals deported to Mexico, tougher penalties for people traveling with forged documents, and a joint security program for the violent border metropolis of Ciudad Juárez. Both countries also agreed to tackle the flow of arms and laundered money from the US into Mexico.

Financing for the plan comes from the 1.4 billion dollar Mérida Initiative – a military spending program similar to Plan Colombia.