Pubdate: Sat, 07 Jun 2008
Source: Taos News, The ( NM )
Copyright: The Taos News 2008
Contact:  http://www.taosnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3001
Author: J.  Michael Jones
Note: Mike Jones, a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, is 
retired from the Gainesville, Fla.  Police Department.  He has lived 
in the Taos area since 1996.
Cited: Law Enforcement Against Prohibition  www.leap.cc/

ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF ADDICTION TO THE WAR ON DRUGS

New Mexico Gov.  Bill Richardson urged U.S.  lawmakers Thursday to 
resolve their differences over an aid package to help Mexico fight 
drugs, saying it would be "disastrous" for security on both sides of 
the border if the Merida Initiative fell through.  In my opinion the 
Merida Initiative is another example of our government's addiction to 
the war on drugs.  The call for approximately $450 million for Mexico 
to spend on resources to aid in their fight against their drug 
cartels is a call for further escalation of violence.  The Merida 
Initiative would provide helicopters, planes, computer systems and 
police dogs.  The process of escalation began during the Nixon 
administration and has continued without abatement ever since.  It is 
a leapfrog process: good guys start to win, bad guys develop new 
tactics; bad guys start to win, good guys develop new tactics.  If 
our officials were to step back and objectively consider the last 
30-plus years of trying to control drug use by interdiction of supply 
or through fear of incarceration they would have to admit that 
neither approach has worked.  During this process there has been a 
disturbing erosion of civil liberties and an increased level of 
police corruption.  With all due respect to Gov.

Richardson and his concern for border violence, the Merida Initiative 
is not the solution, it is only adding to the problem.  The answer to 
Mexico's drug cartel problem is to put them out of business, but that 
won't happen at the end of a gun.  It would happen if the U.S.

legalized drugs.  By legalizing, not de-criminalizing drugs, 
criminals are virtually removed from the production, importation, and 
distribution of drugs for recreational use.  Is legalization a 100 
percent cure for the problems associated with drug use? Absolutely 
not, but it is a major improvement in dealing with the crime problems 
associated with trafficking.  Legalized means drug production and 
distributions are controlled and sales are taxed.  Legalized means 
that instead of spending $70 billion annually in failed efforts to 
stop drug use, much of that money could be diverted to treatment and 
prevention education, with plenty left over.  What need is there for 
the drug cartels if drugs are legalized? Marijuana is one of the 
major cash crops in the U.S.  Why import inferior cannabis when there 
are so many well-regarded regional strains? Opium poppies can be 
grown just about anywhere.  Direct relationships with coca farmers, 
similar to those with coffee growers, will provide the ingredients 
for cocaine.  After all, where does pharmaceutical cocaine originate? 
Simply put, legalized, regulated, and taxed recreational drugs can be 
produced and distributed without involving cartels or other 
criminals, and the benefits should be enormous.  Virtually all of us 
that are affected by the prohibition of selected drugs for 
recreational use.  We are impacted in myriad ways, none of which are 
positive, and in so many aspects of our lives that we no longer are 
even aware of the connections.  Legalization is a rational, objective 
approach to recreational drug use, because that is how control of 
drugs and drug trafficking is wrested from criminals around the 
globe.  Criminals should not be making important decisions about 
drugs -- decisions about purity, quality, quantities, prices and 
consumers -- your child, perhaps? The citizens of the U.S.  are not 
responsible for the problems Mexico is experiencing.  Our government, 
with full assistance from the Mexican government, has created a 
situation with a very simple solution.  Don't send money, eliminate 
the need for cartels and do the world a great service.  Legalize! To 
begin an educational journey, visit the Law Enforcement Against 
Prohibition Web site at www.leap.cc/.  This piece is not intended to 
advocate the use of any recreational drug whether legal or not, what 
it does advocate is an end to the war on our population, funded by 
our population, and waged by a government that is supposed to protect 
that population from outside threats, not from ourselves.

Mike Jones, a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, is 
retired from the Gainesville, Fla.  Police Department.  He has lived 
in the Taos area since 1996.
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