Mexico Continues to Mishandle Drug War

Had enough of the “War on Drugs” yet El Presidente Calderon? How’s it going for you and your establishment? Good? No, not so good.

A year or two back the Mexican government almost had it. They were exploring the possibility of legalizing drugs in Mexico. But when the U.S got wind of Mexico making an executive decision, that idea got squashed pretty darn quick.  Just who do they think they are anyway, their own government?

When it comes to the U.S. calling the tune, Mr. Calderon will dance to “La Cucaracha” around a sombrero quicker than you can say “50,000 citizens killed in six years”.

So the plan remains to continue to throw bodies at the Cartels. But as soon as the army shoots a Cartel "Pistolero" down, another desperate man (or woman) jumps in to take their place to continue the fight for their drug trade and the huge money it generates.  The Cartels then target the police and the body count rises for them and the civilian population caught in the cross-fire, living in almost constant fear for their lives since everyone knows that the police are in on the deal with the drug suppliers as well.

How is Mexico to win?

The answer is: They can’t. They won’t , ever. It’s not possible. It was never possible.

Why?

Because what they and all governments are dealing with is a Market Force. It is the demand for these certain drugs and the money they generate that drives people to risk all to fulfill this demand. If there’s money to be made, people will bring you what you desire and are willing to pay for. Market forces are unstoppable. They answer to no person and to no government.

Making certain drugs illegal forces them underground. This means the manufacture and supply of these drugs also goes underground. Government will work to keep them out of the hands of society and shadowy cartels will work to bring them into society. Every other means will be shut out. The money this underground activity generates is impossible to track and will be used to corrupt influential people, buy arms and fund terror all over the world.
By making these drugs illegal, the government has literally created its own adversary by making sure only the Cartels, desperate people willing to kill to control their government-made business, get the money generated by their exclusive contract for the sale of them.

Legalizing drugs ends this exclusive contract by opening up the market and allowing competition. If any licensed facility can sell them, how can they be stopped? Why would a person go to a less than stellar neighborhood in the dead of night when they can go to a safe place in the daylight? And the money, licensing, taxes and business assessments go to the local governments, not the Cartels. This money can be tracked and taxed. Thus the Cartels will be destroyed and the money circulated worldwide to fund anti-government activities and terror will dry up.

No, it’s not a Utopian ideal, there will still be addicts but since drugs would be legal, the money once devoted to jails, guns, police and corrections can now fund public rehab facilities, councilors and anti-drug education programs so that if a person wants to get clean, they can. As it stands now, there are few publicly funded rehab facilities and there are massive waiting lists for every bed.

Right now people who want drugs have no trouble getting them regardless of their illegality, yes?  So to say drugs should not be made legal because of the dangers of addiction doesn't wash. It is an arguement for the status quo, saying let’s leave everything as it is. As it is, is not working.

The Drug Cartels cannot make more demands if drugs are legalized because they would no longer control the distribution of drugs any more than they can control the distribution of another formerly banned substance, beer.

There is no good argument against legalizing drugs right now except the "come clean" admission that by keeping drugs illegal, the government maintains control over a massive police and penal system which brings jobs to many. Who cares if innocent people are being mowed down in the streets!?

But the important thing would be to take the money out of the hands of the Cartels which legalization will do.

People aren't going to do more drugs because they are legal. Right now a person who wants to try them has NO TROUBLE getting their hands on them despite any perceived penalties.

Just because the big news is about Mexico that the U.S. is any safer then what’s going on south of the border. Philadelphia, PA and Camden, NJ combine for almost 800 murders each year. Many of them drug related. New York City annually has around 500 murders. Many also due to the sale, consumption and trafficking of drugs made illegal by the government. Now think about many of the other big cities in the U.S. like Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA, Miami, FL and Los Angeles, CA. Just because it doesn't make the news doesn't mean it’s not happening.

Just to add some perspective, there is another class of drugs in the world, "legitimate" drugs made by licensed legitimate businesses, big multi-continental businesses as big as any cartel that we can walk into any Pharmacia and buy with a doctor's note. It's classified as MEDICINE! The competition over these drugs is also fierce. There is also great heaping wads of cash aimed to influence politicians, tax coffers, government agencies, advertisers and, most importantly, doctors. They also command armies, armies of lawyers to combat lawsuits stemming from all the side effects their products have on people.

More people take these drugs than all the illegal drugs COMBINED.

People become addicted to these drugs also, rob banks and gas stations to get the money for them and generally behave in the same fashion as the people who are hooked on illegal drugs. Their actions are illegal but the drugs are legal.

So what's the hell's the difference?