Pubdate: Sun, 01 Mar 2009 Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA) Copyright: 2009 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc Contact: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/340 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/mexico Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) LOSING THE WAR ON DRUGS Mexico Imagine if murders in Philadelphia tripled. Imagine if they quadrupled. Imagine living in Juarez, Mexico. With a population about the same as Philadelphia's 1.4 million, Juarez had 1,600 murders last year; Philadelphia had 332. Last month, Juarez had more than 80 murders. If you think that sounds like a war zone, you would be right. Juarez is on the front lines of the so-called war on drugs. That multi-decade misadventure has filled U.S. prisons with thousands of drug-law violators, but hasn't done enough to stem our demand for drugs. Overall drug use among America's youth is down 25 percent since 2001, according to a University of Michigan study. But 32 percent of 12th graders said they used marijuana over the past year. "Marijuana is as available to teenagers in this country as candy," says Joseph A. Califano Jr., president of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. Marijuana isn't the only illegal drug exported from Mexico. Ninety percent of the cocaine in this country made its way here through Mexico. It is also the major source of much of the heroin and methamphetamine found in this country. The lucrative U.S. market has spawned heavily armed drug cartels in Mexico. These bandits export 90 percent of their weapons from our side of the Rio Grande. Using their American guns, the cartels have parts of Mexico, especially border cities like Juarez and Tijuana, gasping to avoid drowning in a bloodbath. The cartels aren't just killing rival drug dealers; they are kidnapping and killing soldiers, police, judges, journalists - anyone who gets in their way. Some victims have been beheaded. The U.S. State Department has alerted American travelers to take care in Mexico. The U.S. consul estimates that at least 30 Americans were killed in Juarez last year. The University of Arizona has advised students to avoid taking spring break in Mexico. Travel restrictions have been placed on U.S. soldiers stationed near the border at Ford Hood and Fort Huachucha. Mexican President Felipe Calderon has mobilized troops to fight the cartels. Our government is fighting the drug lords, too. This past week, U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced the arrest of 755 people nationwide associated with a Mexican cartel. Also seized were nearly $60 million in cash, 13 tons of cocaine, eight tons of marijuana, and a half-ton of methamphetamine. Yet the availability of those drugs on the streets of America is little disturbed. So what's the answer? An El Paso city councilman proposed that his Texas city across from Juarez consider legalizing drugs. The mayor vetoed the idea. But other U.S. cities are thinking hard about regulating and taxing some drugs, rather than leaving that enterprise to gun-wielding criminals. Proposed medical marijuana laws, including one before the New Jersey Legislature, may be a step in that direction. In the meantime, this country must do more to stop assault weapons from flowing across the border into Mexico. It also must step up the delivery of weapons, communications equipment, and helicopters promised by former President George W. Bush to the Mexican military under the Merida Initiative. And this country must further reduce our demand for illegal drugs by putting more resources into counseling and treatment. Mexico can't be ignored. Former U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey says "Mexico is on the edge of the abyss" of becoming "a narco-state." Former CIA chief Michael Hayden says the drug cartels have made Mexico as much a national security threat for America as Iran. Our neighbor deserves our attention. What happens there affects us greatly. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin