Boston - In the upcoming California referendum on legalizing marijuana for recreational use, Mexican President Felipe Calderon and U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske have something in common. Both are missing the forest for the weed. According to recent polls, Californians are on the verge of approving the legalization of marijuana and overthrowing nearly a century of failed American drug prohibition. Hail to the Golden State. In the four decades since President Richard Nixon declared a "War on Drugs," the toll of prohibition includes at least $1 trillion in taxes spent, according to The Wall Street Journal. Worse are the millions of lives damaged by prison time and street violence. In 2007, for example, about 500,000 people were in jail on drug charges. [continues 580 words]
BOSTON - In the upcoming California referendum on legalizing marijuana for recreational use, Mexican President Felipe Calderon and U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske have something in common. Both are missing the forest for the weed. According to recent polls, Californians are on the verge of approving the legalization of marijuana and overthrowing nearly a century of failed American drug prohibition. Hail to the Golden State. In the four decades since President Richard Nixon declared a "War on Drugs," the toll of prohibition includes at least $1 trillion in taxes spent, according to the Wall Street Journal. Worse are the millions of lives damaged by prison time and street violence. In 2007, for example, about 500,000 people were in jail on drug charges. [continues 574 words]
BOGOTA, Colombia ---- Mexicans once bridled at suggestions of learning anything from Colombia, but as the violence and power of drug cartels have grown in their country, they now are beating a path here. President Felipe Calderon, civil society groups, policy experts, police and others have been traveling to this Andean nation to learn how it beat back the cartels, sharply reduced murders and kidnappings and reasserted a sense of civic participation. Some, such as journalists, just seek tips on how to survive. [continues 684 words]
BOSTON -- Mexico is not a failing state, as it has become fashionable to say. What has failed is our "war on drugs." That failure and the drug-related violence wracking Mexico suggest it is time to open a national discussion on legalizing drugs. About 6,600 Mexicans were killed in fighting involving drug gangs last year, and alarms are going off in this country. The U.S. Joint Forces Command, former drug czar Barry R. McCaffrey, former CIA director Michael V. Hayden, former House speaker Newt Gingrich and any number of analysts have speculated that Mexico is crumbling under pressure from drug gangs. [continues 686 words]
