The spillover of violence from Mexico began some time ago in border towns like Laredo and El Paso in Texas, where merchants and wealthy families face extortion and kidnapping threats from Mexican gangs, and where drug dealers who refuse to pay "taxes" to Mexican cartel bosses are gunned down. But now, the threat posed by Mexican criminals is beginning to spread north from the U.S.-Mexican border. One location that has felt this expanding threat most acutely is Phoenix, some 185 miles north of the border. Some sensational cases have highlighted the increased threat in Phoenix, such as a June 2008 armed assault in which a group of heavily armed cartel gunmen dressed like a Phoenix Police Department tactical team fired more than 100 rounds into a residence during the targeted killing of a Jamaican drug dealer who had double-crossed a Mexican cartel. We have also observed cartel-related violence in places like Dallas and Austin, Texas. But Phoenix has been the hardest hit. [...]
The kidnapping gangs in Phoenix that target illegal immigrants have found their chosen crime to be lucrative and relatively risk-free. If the flow of illegal immigrants had continued at high levels, there is very little doubt the kidnappers' operations would have continued as they have for the past few years. The current economic downturn, however, means the flow of illegal immigrants has begun to slow -- and by some accounts has even begun to reverse. (Reports suggest many Mexicans are returning home after being unable to find jobs in the United States.)This reduction in the pool of targets means that we might be fast approaching a point where these groups, which have become accustomed to kidnapping as a source of easy money -- and their primary source of income -- might be forced to change their method of operating to make a living. While some might pursue other types of criminal activity, some might well decide to diversify their pool of victims. Watching for this shift in targeting is of critical importance. Were some of these gangs to begin targeting U.S. citizens rather than just criminals or illegal immigrants, a tremendous panic would ensue, along with demands to catch the perpetrators.
Nearly 2,000 Mexican soldiers and armed federal police poured into the border town of Ciudad Juarez last weekend. The city - just across from El Paso in Texas - has been ravaged by drug gangs. Just this month 250 people were killed there by hitmen fighting for lucrative smuggling routes.
Mexico is on the brink of becoming a failed state. (link fixed) But never mind that, we have our trusty betters in media alternating national news coverage between developments in the relationship of a hip-hop artist and his punching bag de jour, and envy of the First Lady's toned arms.
Not only can we not defeat the Jihadists, the Talibanners and even our own drug addicted street people, we have absolutely no hope of stopping the Mexican armada moving north and soiling everything in their wake.
White democratic, capitalist, freedom loving people with Christian values, and self-reliant morality (who single handedly built the modern world that so many losers now enjoy) are FINISHED.
Thanks to political correct multicultural Leftist idiots in their pursuit of a serendipitous gaia.
How sad.
I live in Mexico City and it is as bad if not worse than what the media reports. The cartels are in bed with the governing officials and the police are horrifically corrupt. In almost two years of living here the police have pulled my vehicle over (because it has Alberta plates...it may as well say Mercedes Benz) 40 times to get their "mordida" (bite or bribe). People here are horrified at the level of violence and many are finding ways to immigrate to the US, Canada or Europe for fear that the worsening economy will mean a spike in violenece...as if their isn't a spike already. I'm stunned how the US government sits on it rear as the violence escalates just meters from its border. You never hear about the hundereds of Americans that have been kidnapped along the border to disappear on the Mexican side. Not only is the cartel kidnappings bad but kidnappings to have sacrificial victims for "La Santa Muerte" (patron saint of the cartels) is worse...a through back cult to Aztec times. Stay out of Mexico!!!
Yet another right-wing chicken come home to roost.
Good Lord, John, don't despair!
All is not lost - not by a long shot.
As the "benefit of the doubt" is brazenly rubbed in America's face, many, who usually just want to be left alone, are realizing that they're going to have to stand up and be counted.
Listen carefully: it's all around you.
Peter O'keefe wrote:
"Good Lord, John, don't despair!
All is not lost - not by a long shot."
Yet.....
For bad things to occur it is only necessary for good men to do nothing.
There is hope.....the popularity of "24" is an example.
There are many would be "Jack Bauers" about....ready to do what is needed.
Oh yeah, there will need be some eggs (heads) cracked....
There can only be despair with the anemic president the US now has...Bush did not take the Mexico problem seriously either. It's going to have to be the states and local sherrifs that fix the cartel problem.
As bad as it is, it will get much worse. The reason? Canterell depletion.
The Mexican state relies on oil revenues for some 60% of its operating funds, and their largest oil field is now in rapid decline (some 16% annual decline of output, and growing). There is nothing of substance to replace it. Mexico will cease to have any oil for export within about 3 years.
If you live in or near Mexico, have an exit strategy.
There's a difference between Mexican victims and American victims. American victims SHOOT BACK!!!
Another left wing turkey comes in to crap on the floor.
Second link "failed state" is not working for me, anyone else?
Idd, same problem here, failed state link isn't valid.
I will take heart when I hear gunfire coming from American freedom fighters south of the border.
The whole purpose of the second amendment was to guarantee that the citizenry would be armed and able to overthrow tyranny whether from without or from within America.
The 'within' is inhabiting the white house and the congress. We don't have four years to waste watching this destruction of the constitution and heritage of the once great USA.
Unless those 'good men' (and women) are willing to fight to 'regain' their freedom and prosperity, we will all be living in a gray Orwellian world ... very soon.
What we now have in America and Canada as well, is NOT freedom.
The elected sheriff, Joe Arpaio ("Sheriff Joe"), is being criticized -- make that crucified -- for his efforts to curb the illegal immigration problem. His roundups, tent city housing, making his inmates sing the National Anthem in ENGLISH every morning, are all considered a violation of human rights. Pardon me, folks, but these are CRIMINALS!! The tree-hugging, nanny-stating, hand-wringing, left-wingnuts keep overlooking the word ILLEGAL that preceeds the word immigrant in their wails of "foul play" and "racial profiling". It is a disgrace. I live it every day in this piss pot city. I've written before of how the illegals have come in and bought huge, expensive homes, then turned those neighborhoods into slums with the graffitied walls, crime rates through the roof, drop houses, crack houses and transient lifestyles. No wonder the Phoenix housing market is the third worst in the nation. Now all employers are required by law to verify work status on all new hires. The illegals are having a harder time finding work. That's okay. They just go down to the welfare office and sign up for aid. Aid that comes out of MY pocket. Free health care for their 10 kids, free education for their SPANISH-SPEAKING 10 kids (so MY english-speaking child can't get a decent education), free food, and housing assistance. A white family that lives responsibly and LEGALLY can't make ends meet but can't get financial assistance. It makes my blood boil.
I say round them all up and send them back to the country they've already ruined before they finish the job here.
I posted on this issue awhile back, this phenomenon of the drug gangs spilling over the Mexico-US border and beginning to wreak havoc in America.
I also posted about the fact that, since the Mexican state apparatus is apparently losing its war against the gangs, civilians are taking matters into their own hands, with groups of Paul Kersey-types targeting and taking out the evildoers.
If it continues to worsen in America, rest assured Barry Hussein Obama will pretend everything's fine and dandy in Utopian Gaialand, and the Big Media will naturally follow his lead and pretend that the biggest news is irrelevant-to-you-and-me personal-business crap involving mentally-disordered musical couples and First Lady bodyparts... Oh, where was I? Ah, yes... Well, did y'all see the "Death Wish" movies, with Charles Bronson as Paul Kersey the vigilante? Well, get ready for real life to sooner or later begin imitating Hollywood... I'm not saying to go and pretend to be Paul Kersey and pop baddies at every opportunity, but, seriously, what do we expect when the state cavalierly allows chaos to rule?
The real shame is that this is almost entirely caused by the war on drugs - the illegal profits fund the Mexican cartels, the Taliban, etc. What seems amazingly strange in my mind is how well Republicans "get" that prohibition doesn't work with guns and yet can't get it through their heads that it doesn't work with drugs either. No, I'm not saying drugs are good (I've seen them destroy people), but having the state impose this morality A) doesn't solve the problem and B) has disastrous side-effects both in our own country, our neighbors, and others around the world.
If the communists in the USSR couldn't keep drugs out of the most totalitarian police state the world has ever known, how do free countries expect to do so?
The Texas Rangers have been battling this problem since Christ was a child! The Rangers had the right solution. Hang them, and ask the questions later.
I once read the testimony of a Jesuit priest who had left the order to become a Texas Ranger. He reasoned that, "any man, irregardless if he is guilty or innocent, who dies from a rope after being accused of any number of crimes, will have served a noble cause. Namely, he will have been a bad example for those with intentions of breaking the laws of Texas."
This may not be his exact words, however I do agree with the kind Father turned Ranger. Hi-yo Silver!!!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7866811.stm
……and now the lefty green party of Mexico would like to re-introduce the death penalty! Yea, kill them all, they say.
Posted by: Phil at March 3, 2009 2:30 PM>>
“American victims SHOOT BACK!!!”
Well that would be true Phil, if the intended and preferred victims were gun owning American adults. But the reality is their preference is unassuming, not legal to own a firearm children!!
http://www.usillegalaliens.com/impacts_of_illegal_immigration_sex_crimes.html
Do tell…………They only want the jobs that 3 – 4 million unemployed Americans won’t do!
I lean left but on this issue I agree with most conservatives, we must control our borders or we will not be safe. The segment on 60 mins last Sunday was sobering to say the least.
I just returned from Mexico the end of Feb. This is the first time there has been a "federal & police" presence in the PV area. Every few blocks heading out of PV (north) there were road blocks, manned by the fed's looking for certain types of vehicles. (never bothering tourists). There was also lots of military vehicles, traveling the highways. At night the beaches were patrolled by both police and fed's. It reminded me of my first trip to Acapulco 12 years ago, the number of fed's and police presence at that time. I am worried for the welfare of the people of Mexico, I hope that Canada and US help Mexico in this battle. We can not afford to have Mexico fail. I am actually shocked at the lack of information being provided by the Canadian government to travelers. There should be more truth being told. Saying that, I never once feared for my safety. Would I avoid the boarder areas? YES
The US Media IS, daily, talking about this and has been for some time.
We may knock CNN, but Lou Dobbs and others have been ranting - and I think that has to be the term - against the Mexican-US open border, the drugs, the criminality, the kidnappings and asking, when, when, will the government do something.
And - arguing against the illegal immigrants.
Agreed - Bush, for some reason, didn't do it. And neither is Obama.
I had thought that Mexico was 'progressing' by getting rid of its lower class by shipping them illegally to the US, and therefore, focusing on developing a middle class. I was quite wrong; it instead moved into an economy outside of the law, based on corruption, blackmail, and the drug and criminal gangs have moved in.
No, legalizing drugs isn't the answer. Why? Because it wouldn't work. IF you legalize drugs, the only viable method would be to include the costs of criminal behaviour carried out under the influence, the costs of medical care for destroyed minds...in the cost of the drug. Would this work? Would drug users actually pay for the results of drug use? No - so, it would go underground as it is now.
Does the Mexican govt have the will to take control of its economy and society? And will Obama do anything about the border?
I'm beginning to cross over to EvilRed's views on drugs. I am an ex-user (thank He Who Watches Over Stupid Young People) and vehemently anti-drug in my old age. However, I now see that education and prohibition aren't getting the job done. I say legalize the poison. Price it sky high, tax the living sh*t out of it, and regulate the quality. Hey, if it's legal, I'd like to at least get what I'm paying for!
Coincidentally G.Beck was advocating for the legalization of pot on his show yesterday, perhaps conservatives are having a change of heart. The bottom line is about 1/5 of adults in Canada are smoking pot(conservative #’s I think); therefore, 20% of Canadians are criminals. Ridiculous! Like Beck said "If the law is on the books, prosecute the offenders or take the law off the books". ET may be right, this may not help wrt this issue, but the law is still stupid, and anyone charged with possession for personal use will be able to beat the charges regardless(in Canada).
BTW I'm not a customer, but I do know that the price of pot is cheaper than 15 years ago when I was in high school. It's funny how inexpensive things are when the government is out, and the free market dictates the prices. So to all you tobacco smokers freezing yo arses off outside smoking your $20 pack of smokes, ask yourselves who the maroons really are?
Legalizing drugs and taxing them is, quite frankly, nothing short of idiotic. One need look no further than to see what happens to ANY product that is taxed at a high rate....the product simply gets smuggled into the country. The profits realized by the criminals are simply the difference between their cost and their sales price which (if drugs were legalized and taxed) would now include the prices of the taxes themselves. Just look at the booming business of smuggling smokes and booze into Canada.
And, of course, to compound the problem with so-called "legal drugs" on the street, there would always be a question of whether they were "legal" or not as opposed to simply knowing they were illegal.
Really, this nonsense of legalization and taxation or drugs is just bizarre logic.
..the relationship of a hip-hop "artist" and his punching bag de jour..
There. Fixed that.
wrt Jack Bauer
I'm of the opinion that white dudes like Jack Bauer will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law for taking a stand.
As I've said before, as long as the "left" continue their "war on white men" we are lost. Fans of 24 may have noticed that no matter how much good Jack does, he's still a criminal as far as the loons are concerned. I will sooner assimilate than put my neck on the line for those that would incarcerate me for protecting them. It will be much easier for me under our new masters than it will be for you. Remember " There are no gays in Iran".
Legalizing drugs and taxing them is, quite frankly, nothing short of idiotic.
How's that war on drugs been workin' for you so far, john? Gotta love that conservative commitment to liberty and small government.
Yeah.But Kate.Hip-hop "artists" are not involved in drugs,and only beat on their ho's for using them! Ergo,it's not the Mexican's who are to blame for these murders and drug wars,but abused women! And besides.Meageara got her arms from keeping her legs bow-legged like that......Opps.Sorry.Channeling a leftie there for a bit.
ET, remember the Vancouver police chief noting one drug user with a $200k habit has had over 100 court appearances with various short incarcerations and steals over $2 million dollars affecting over 4,000 people each year. I would rather he be given his drugs free in a controlled area than continue this mayham.
Allow people to grow their own marijuana, its cheap and easy. There has to be some alternative to the destruction of whole countries by the drug trade. Singapore seems to have a good solution, they simply kill drug traffickers!
There was a jab at the media in your post. I wouldn't put all publications in the same category. I did read about this in Macleans. They provide the meaningful articles that many other outlets miss.
The illegal immigration problem in the US and to a lesser extent “for now” in Canada is grossly misunderstood by the left.
As the left thinks their giving a helping hand to poor underprivileged Mexican farmers, they are in reality swelling the ranks of uneducated American minimum wage labor and welfare offices.
The strain on the economy from subprime housing to education to healthcare is unprecedented and unsustainable even if some do pay minimum wage taxes. There is no surprise that California the world’s 8th largest economy is now bankrupt and can’t cope with the runaway ghetto crime let alone the ability to build more than 1 school per week required to keep up with the third world immigration.
Are these new arrivals thankful, or grateful to be now living in the “Great US of A”? Absolutely not, the call on the streets (in mobs) is to kick out the “European Invaders” from MEXIFORNIA!
http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_1_mexifornia.html
http://www.aztlan.net/def25.htm
California is the litmus test for the rest of the USA. A Latino child can grow up almost completely without knowing English now in parts of California. The worst part for the remainder of the US is that the number of Latino’s has gone exponential and the US population less than 25 years of age will be well over 50% by 2015. Is this a big deal? Well it is if you never intended on living in Mexico with an underachieving developing economy, brutal organized gangs and blatant government corruption on a daily basis. This can’t be overstated because the demographics with dictate America’s leadership. Racist Mexican’s you ask? Google or Utube what Latino’s think of blacks, because they are already on the front line suffering the consequence of this invasion.
This doesn’t even touch the statistics of illegal immigrant sexual offenders including pedophiles that are captured each month by border security and city police. Of which police officers state openly these captures are but a fraction of the numbers still at large. No mention of the third world diseases that were once eradicated from US soil, now making a comeback in a big way on the backs of illegal’s who bypass the inspection/ quarantine processes of the legal entry immigrants.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ahEhcVW7oQ
http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/immigrationnaturalizatio/a/caillegals.htm
Forget taxing drugs. Just make them legal to buy, sell and use. Only a certain percentage of the population will get hooked or destroy their lives. Sadly, those who become alcoholic or drug addicted are genetically pre-disposed. Doesn't matter if its high or low price they will ultimately find their way into aggravated substance abuse. Better to make it as available and inexpensive as possible to take the motivation for crime right out of it. In a couple of generations the gene stock will improve.
The success rate for highly priced rehabilitation centres is less than 20%. Once the substance is in control the next step is death for the vast majority. Keep em stoned, drunk and isolated in their own homes, cause that's were they ultimately end up.
RCGZ - could you provide some proof that the tendency to extreme addiction is genetic, and also, that, in a couple of generations, the gene stock will improve. Thanks.
Dave - I would rather this permanent thief be jailed. The social and financial cost is far less than leaving him on the street. And when he is 'stoned', he is harmful to others.
The War on Drugs is nothing but a make work project that will never see an end. Not only will there never be an end but it will continue to grow for one reason and one reason only, MONEY. Take money out of the drug equation and you are left with the same druggies but without the crime. I read somewhere that 80 to 90 percent of all crime was drug related and if drugs were simply given out to those that wanted them that would in turn put a stop to the desperate need for money and the associated crime.
Drug awareness programs in our schools may not even be needed for the most part as there would be no reason for anyone to “push” drugs on our children.
Just think about all of the drug dealers that would be out of business? What about horrific penalties for any adult found with non sanctioned drugs? What about draconian jail terms and treatment for foreigners found with or transporting our “legal” drugs?
The sanctimonious and self righteous amongst us are the biggest reason we have and will continue to have a serious drug problem, it’s a self inflicted one, with no end in sight.
Think about it, if there’s no money in it, it becomes a non-issue but for the tiny percent that are no hopers anyway.
philboy.....it is typical of lefties like yourself to make comments that the war on drugs is hopeless. Actually what is hopeless is the system that we have now. What needs to happen is that drug dealers need to be put in the slammer for a very VERY long time. Does it mean more costs for incarceration? Damned right it does. But so what? The costs of drug abuse and use is enormous and is absorbed by society in spades every day. Also, we need to get serious about kicking out those immigrants who get into the "trade".
And as for "liberty and small government"....are you completely nuts? "Liberty" does not imply criminals go free....and small government means government where it needs to be and out of areas it doesn't need to meddle.
Your comments are typical of the mindset (if I can use that term) of the left. The left likes the idea of revolving door "justice". That is likely because most of the social "science" types that come out of universities actually need some kind of work....so they invent it. There is nothing better than to create a cottage industry that lives off the taxpayer.
One question. Where are all these "free" drugs going to come from when we legalize them?
I'm always trying to get people to read this guy, but it's because he's omniscient. Anyone who thinks drugs should be legalized ought to read this: http://www.city-journal.org/html/7_2_a1.html
I lean pretty far to the right politically, but...
Marijuana is one area where I think the government ought to back off.
First off, trying to make marijuana to be in the same category as coke, crack or heroin contributes to the "gateway effect"... because it gives the impression to the cerebrally challenged that since marijuana is safe to use, so are the other drugs that are illegal.
Second, marijuana is a HUGE aid in combatting alcoholism. In fact, doctors used to prescribe it to combat alcholism. I don't care what your religion or morality, some people just NEED to "take the edge off," and far better they do it with a joint than with a bottle. Some people are just built that way. It is in human nature. In my experience, most people who are regular pot users will switch to booze right quick when they run out of their soft-drug of choice. Pleasantly THC-stoned people are NOT the ones getting rowdy in your back alley, or engaging in domestic violence... but drunks are.
Third, it's about friggin time that we stop chopping down our damn trees here in BC and start filling up those clear cuts with huge crops of hemp. Talk about the industry to replace forestry with, cripes! Paper, fabric, oil, resin, plastic, particle board... you name it, and we can save all those old growth forests which are just chipped for pulp anyway. The lefties will pee their pants they will be so happy. Set them tree planters loose like Johnny Marijuana Seed and then fire up the combine in the fall... and hey, it'll grow back next year... like a weed!
I could go on and on, as the war against pot must be THE stupidest thing around and is completely unjustifiable.
And yes, I live in Vansterdam, BC... and I also used to lived in Amsterdam. The odd thing in Amsterdam is that it's unheard of for pot to be sold at schools. It's treated like alcohol, and young kids can't access it as easily as here. Oh, and the stories you hear about all the heroin addicts in Amsterdam is also a fable. There are far less people addicted to hard drugs there than here in Vancouver - there are also far less people who regularly use, or have even bothered to try minor drugs like marijuana and hashish than in Drug-war North America.
As per the figure further up as to 20% of people having used marijuana being conservative... that is correct. It IS conservative. A while back there was a study or something done during random autopsies which found that marijuana was present in over 30% of the population - within the past 6 months... so the amount of people that HAVE tried it out of the 6 month parameter must push it even higher.
Lol... and BC also has the highest amount of UFO sightings in the country!
Put the Hell's Angels out of business. Let people grow that stuff in their back yards.
The problem is caused by the idiots who demand their huministic granted right to pump chemical substances into their "bodies" just for a thrill.
If there were fewer who demanded their vice, the dealers, pimps, et.al. would not have the means to exist.
As someone who has tested various...er things in the past (before I was 20), and am on the dark side of 50, I believe that apart from the pot thing, throw the book at 'em.
As far as the pot, legalize it, you know damn well the gov't is going to find a way to get tax money out of it but if they can get it through their skulls that they can beat the dealers at their own game, that is one problem dealt with. Just try to keep it at a workable level(that is asking a lot when you are talking gov't and taxes).
I know my kids have been exposed to this and have one that likes to do his doobies on occasion. Rather than call him out on it, I have explained to him that while I am not happy with what he is doing, I will still love him as my son and when the time is right, he will come around.
I know this sounds like a lefty paradise but my son (and he is in his mid 20's), and I have a great father-son relationship and since I have accepted his life stlye and he knows mine, we have gotten closer than I ever was with my parents.
Sorry to go o/t a bit.
As Western Canadian state: "if there is no money in it, it becomes a non issue".
If the gov't were to force kids to go to a store(by legalizing it) to buy pot, produce ID, thus having it on record for their parents to eventually find out about, this would stop the trafficking in at least one drug. Start with that and work your way up the food chain.
ET and agilog mention the MSM are mentioning the illegal immigrant problems. Yes, -finally- they are. Now that people are being kidnapped in job lots.
Thing to remember about this, they are pretty near ten YEARS behind the curve here. When I lived in Phoenix there was a civilian group formed to patrol the border because the Feds simply were not doing it. At all. 1000+ people a week were crossing around Nogales AZ and wandering off to who the hell knows where, completely unchallenged.
Google up "Minuteman Project" and see how many positive news stories you see. That's where the MSM has been focusing their attention and their money.
Recalling that the Mexican "authorities" have been revealed in this story posted by Kate as a bunch of corrupt a-holes in bed with the drug cartels, who like to kill and kidnap people, I should point out that it has been official Border Patrol policy to report the location of Minuteman lookout points to the Mexican authorities. Fox News story from 2006, case in point:
www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,194769,00.html
Further to this rather revealing action by the Border Patrol brass, we have The One's shiny new attorney general mention The One has decreed there will be a new assault weapon ban because it will help... Mexico.
phantomsoapbox.blogspot.com/2009/02/toldja.html
I couldn't make that up.
All of which leads to the strong suspicion that there are elements of the vast United States gubmint who like the border just the way it is thank you very much, and they will labor to keep it that way. The MSM is helping them do it.
Now, notwithstanding the corrupt behavior of the Mexican AND American government officials, having lived in Arizona a while myself, all I can say is good f-ing luck to the dumb @ss Mexican kidnappers who start in on the white people. That will be a bad career move.
ET,
You are correct. It is not proven that a certain set of genes are the culprit. Safe to say I overstated the case. A quick scan on google will give you numerous scholarly articles that are searching for that link and several will take this position:
"Some people have a genetic predisposition to addiction," says Volkow. "
My main point should have been that once addicted the chances of recovery are slim. "While AA is astonishingly effective for some people, it doesn't work for everyone; studies suggest it succeeds about 20% of the time, and other forms of treatment, including various types of behavioral therapy, do no better. The rate is much the same with drug addiction."
Having had personal experience with familial addictions, I would say the 20% is a pretty hard number. Pretty difficult for me not to think it has more to do with genes than social factors given that I came from an achieving, loving family that enjoyed a fine lifestyle going back to 1611.
Why do some people think that legalising drugs will solve the problem? It does not matter if you favour legalising drugs or the opposite, for that is a different topic. As for cartels, gangs, criminal organisations, they will never disappear due to legalising drugs. They will find another source of revenue, which is why they must be dealt with effectively.
Get rid of socialism and all other problems go away.
If you are a stoner who can't get a job, and I don't have to pay your welfare, fill yer boots. Most stoners would then learn to be responsible adults.
If you want to get stoned and get lung cancer or hurt yourself using heavy machinery, as long as I am not paying your medical bills I don't care. This is one reason I am against socialized medicine. When the state pays your medical bills, it doesn't take long before they start telling you how to live, because they have a vested interest in being healthy. At that point you stop being a free person and become nothing more than livestock with the state as your shepherd.
The government controlling the drug trade to take it away from the criminals is a bad idea. The state has already taken over other areas that used to be the purview of criminal gangs. This doesn't make it good, it just makes the state into a criminal enterprise
If the state took over the drug trade and taxed it,the same thing would happen as happened with tobacco.
Another vote for politically right, but the 'War on Drugs' is just not working. Prohibition of alcohol never worked, and neither is it working with pot. I agree to keep it up on the hard stuff (ice/smack/blow), these are truly destructive. A pothead falls asleep, after stuffing himself with munchies.
The only possible way to combat this, is to go into an over-the-top police state, and that is anathema to the political right.
This isn't advocating pot use, rather, an acceptance that a certain segment of our society wants to mellow out, just like those who want to pound a few wobbly pops at the end of the day....
What needs to be done? I don't think civilization can rely on the Mexican Federales forever. Does the U.S. need to find a way to make Central and South America rich and honest? I'm assuming that building a big wall-fence whathaveyou across the 2,000 mile border won't work. So - cut welfare out for illegals, and come down hard on anyone employing them. What else?
As to the "war on drugs". Prohibition is not a solution to the problems of guns, alcohol, drugs or whatever. It is a -business opportunity- for smugglers.
Prohibition fails every time it is tried, but it does wonderful things for the police budget. Drug prohibition is a complete, total failure. Unless you're a cop. Then its awesome, because you have a job that can't ever go away.
I don't know what the solution to these issues is. I do know that prohibition is not one of them.
However if I might be allowed a suggestion, a more fruitful area of endeavor might be to withdraw our lovely social safety net from everybody who tests positive for drugs. That would be easy and cheap. You want your welfare, pee in the cup. You wanna take drugs, go get your own money.
Apparently there is a Canadian connection as well:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090303.wgangs0303/BNStory/National/home
If you have a problem with addiction do not go near the AA. The web site listed will explain why.
Try the link, it works. I tried it six years ago and have not looked back since.
http://www.rational.org/html_public_area/course_structure.html
Well, it's brutal but efficient (and perfectly defensable) libertarianism, legalizing drugs and letting addicts destroy themselves. It strikes me that the this border thing would be a nightmare even if drug trafficking weren't an issue, which God knows it is. If "Failed State" is accurate, we (broadly) are going to have Somalia in our backyard. Only I think maybe these gangs are better organized.
And when he is 'stoned', he is harmful to others.
ET, could you provide some proof that an intoxicated person is harmful to others?
as for "liberty and small government"....are you completely nuts? "Liberty" does not imply criminals go free....
And who is advocating criminals go free....adults imbibing their substance of choice is not a crime...it has been criminalized for some substances, but therein lies the problem, and the rightwing hypocrisy.
and small government means government where it needs to be and out of areas it doesn't need to meddle.
And it doesn't need to meddle in what people freely choose to put into their bodies.