Drug Denial
U.S., Mexico Must Start by Dealing With Root Causes
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke some truths the other day that may be difficult for many Americans to hear. Clinton acknowledged that our drug habits and the ready availability of guns in this country are implicated in the escalating drug violence scarring Mexico.
And so they are. Getting out of denial about this could be our first step toward tamping down the narco-terror that threatens to spill over into this country.
Focusing on our own piece in this is not to ignore Mexico's role in the worsening situation. Not at all. The corruptibility of that country's police and bureaucracy contribute enormously to the mindless brutality. In 2009, the term drug war is no longer metaphorical. Innocent lives are being lost on all sides.
Clinton was right to summarize things unflinchingly. "We have accepted that this is a co-responsibility," she said on her visit last week to Mexico. "We see it as a responsibility to help the Mexican government and people defeat an enemy."
Victory will only come if both governments are willing to address root causes. For the Mexicans, that means cleaning up a legal and policing system that is still susceptible to the influence of la mordida, "the bite" taken by public officials in exchange for favors large and small.
On this side of the border, the day is coming when the country must look seriously at ways to rein in the multibillion-dollar market that enriches the drug lords while filling American prisons with inmates. This means reassessing the generation-long national drug war, and should include debate on the merits and pitfalls of legalization of drugs. It must also feature a reasoned discussion on better controlling the flow of automatic weapons across the border.
Surely by now, people in both countries have had enough of finger pointing.
What's the old saying? Be careful: When you point your finger at someone else you have three fingers pointing back at yourself. When it comes to drug traffic, that's achingly true for both Mexico and the United States.
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
This letter from DPFT about the editrial above was published by the Chronicle:
On Apr 6, 2009, at 8:45 PM
Let the debate begin
Thank you so much for endorsing “debate on the merits and pitfalls of legalization of drugs” (“Drug denial; U.S., Mexico must start by dealing with root causes,” Page B7, Monday). That debate is called for in legislation sponsored by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va. Texas representatives need to get on board. It is a debate urged by the National Academy of Sciences in 1982 but never held. The grotesque violence and human costs of the actions of the drug lords are intolerable. The financial costs of our modern prohibition now exceed $100 billion each year according to Gary Becker (Nobel Prize in economics) and his colleagues. We pay so much for so little. Let the debate finally begin.
— Jerry Epstein, Houston