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George,
"The cure is worse than the disease." If ever that statement was more self evident, the recent slaughter of three Americans and the daily massacre of Mexican citizens in Juarez should emphatically drive that point home! The "War On Drugs" is a farce. It makes great political theater but the facts speak total failure. Interestingly, the principal profitable drug for which the Mexican cartels murder and torture, is marijuana, a weed that grows wild throughout the world! When the media and public officials comment on the "horrors" of the lawlessness in Mexican border towns, I am inclined to call it "The Clever Alice" syndrome--the old tale from the brothers Grimm, where an axe hanging dangerously overhead is recognized by Alice, and she is praised for her recognizing the danger, but nobody thinks, just remove the cause--problem solved. Americans are the biggest consumers of the illicit drugs coming across the border from Mexico. Like a hydra, if one cartel is stopped, three more take its place--and for every kilo of marijuana or cocaine seized, hundreds more are smuggled into the United States. It's an old business axiom: supply and demand. And the demand is there! The solution? Decriminalize all drugs, starting with marijuana. Surely I realize that for a politician to appear "tough on drugs, tough on crime" is grist as was "outsegging" your opponent for the politicians of the South. So, no help in the offing from politicians. Consequences arising from this hypocrisy and rigidity are enormous--we can start with the thousands of human lives lost annually (many murdered are totally innocent) involving the cartels, illegal drug money underwrites gangs and neverending violence in our cities and towns, it often corrupts law enforcement individuals, fills our prisons, at an annual cost of BILLIONS in taxpayer dollars and the War On Drugs is a multi-BILLION dollar enterprise that yields nothing but a smug satisfaction that we are dealing with an "evil enterprise." Some will say it's a matter of a life or death issue, but, once again, the facts* are at odds with that.Tobacco, mainly cigarettes causes the deaths of approximately 440, 000 Americans each year, alcohol some 80, 000--and way down the list:illegal drugs, directly or indirectly, 17, 000. We would go a long way if we treated drug use and addiction as a medical issue and not a criminal issue--as it once was, with remarkable success. Most emergency room doctors will admit, the comparisons to drug use versus alcohol use as principal causes of emergency room admittance comes down overwhelmingly on the side of alcohol--driving under the influence is involved in many of the battered and broken bodies arriving for emergency care. Not many arrive from smoking marijuana! Once again, few politicians are willing to take up an issue so ingrained in the minds of most Americans.The myths surrounding drug use in this country must be dispelled, It is time that We The People stop this lunacy. Harry Tenney (Electronic mail, March 17, 2010) * Statistics from the Center For Disease Control
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