An unconventional cure for Mexico’s drug violence
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Behind a windshield shattered by gunfire, a policeman guards a crime scene after a drug shootout in Acapulco earlier this month. (PEDRO PARDO, AFP/Getty Images / March 10, 2010)
Legalization of marijuana is the cartels’ worst nightmare
Steve ChapmanMarch 28, 2010
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When someone next door is coping with trouble, the neighborly thing to do is help. Mexico has a growing problem with extreme violence. And many people in California have a good idea of how to help.
Mexico has been wracked by murders connected to the drug trade. Last year, it suffered more than 6,500 drug-related killings, triple the number in 2007. And 2010 looks worse. As of mid-March, more than 2,000 people have died in drug-related homicides – which puts Mexico on pace for more than 10,000 such deaths this year. That's more than one every hour.
This is not an epidemic of crazed meth addicts slaughtering people at random. It's the byproduct of a war involving narcotics traffickers, who sometimes kill each other, sometimes kill police and soldiers, sometimes kill journalists who report their crimes and sometimes kill innocent bystanders.
So what can the Golden State offer in the way of assistance? Something potentially valuable. In November, Californians will vote on a ballot initiative that would make it legal not only to use marijuana but to grow and sell it.
You may think this would help only by allowing Mexicans to flee northward and escape their troubles in a stoner fog. But it would do more. Mexico is the biggest supplier of cannabis to the United States. Control of that market is one of the things that Mexican drug cartels are willing to kill for.
Legalizing weed in this country would be their worst nightmare. Why? Because it would offer Americans a legitimate supply of the stuff.
Criminal organizations would no longer be able to demand huge premiums to compensate for the major risks that go with forbidden commerce. If the referendum passes, some 39 million Californians will have access at lower prices, from regulated domestic producers.
So the drug cartels would see a large share of their profits go up in smoke. Those profits are what enables them to establish sophisticated smuggling operations, buy guns and airplanes, recruit foot soldiers and bribe government officials. Those profits are also what makes all those efforts — and the murderous violence the merchants employ — worth the trouble.
By now, it should be clear that using force to wipe out the drug trade is a task on the order of bailing out the Atlantic Ocean with a teaspoon. Law enforcement can interdict shipments and imprison dealers, but the success is invariably short-lived.
Each seized cargo is an opportunity for another seller to fill the gap. Each arrested trafficker is an invitation for a competitor to grab his business. The more vigorous and successful the law enforcement campaign, the higher the prices drug suppliers can command — and the more people will be enticed to enter the market. It's a self-defeating process.
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Every State that draws revenue from gambling, be it horses, casinos, or lottery, will legalize Marijuana once they see the financial windfall it will provide them. Washington, however, will continue to find this %u201Cpolitically infeasible%u201D, even with all fifty states in agreement.
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Modar_Copeland (03/28/2010, 10:54 AM )
In a long list of mistakes, Obozo once again did the
wrong thing...sending $ to Mexico where the drug
cartels, government & citizens are one of the same,
further ignited countless killings.
Steve, continue to ride on float#5 covering the
Gay Parade for the Tribune...serious issues
should be covered by Charles Krauthammer!!!kabcpa5205 (03/28/2010, 10:53 AM )
Legitimization of drugs would make absolutely no difference to the gangs from Mexico.They are gang members not because of drugs but because they are outside of the government;they are criminals period.Only an incompetent fool would follow the infantile advise of this column.
syzito1 (03/28/2010, 10:49 AM )
Copyright © 2010, Chicago Tribune
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Mexico’s drug violence can be stopped.
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