Saving Mexico by Legalizing US Drugs
By Ivan Eland
April 7, 2009
Editor’s Note: Since Richard Nixon’s presidency, the United States has been waging “a war on drugs,” one of several grandiose “war” paradigms – like George W. Bush’s “war on terror” – that almost guarantees defeat by its definition.
In this guest essay, the Independent Institute’s Ivan Eland argues that the misguided U.S. “war on drugs” is now threatening Mexico’s stability – while filling American jails with drug offenders – and should be replaced with a strategy of legalizing drugs for adults:
While the U.S. superpower has meddled in many far-flung nations around the globe in the name of enhancing its security, as prior to 9/11, it has ignored a threat much closer to home.
In recent years, the Bush administration blithely blamed Mexico for the flow of illegal drugs into the United States and virtually ignored the raging mayhem involving Mexican drug cartels south of the border. That rampant violence is now spilling into the United States as crime.
Yet again, the Bush administration has handed off a tar baby to the Obama administration. And yet again in the security area, the Obama administration has improved on the Bush policy (it’s not hard to do) but needs to go farther.
Instead of merely blaming Mexico for the problem, the Obama administration has acknowledged that the $65 billion annual demand for illegal drugs in the United States is part of the problem. In fact, it is the driver of the problem.
Unfortunately, although admitting that the United States shares blame for the problem because of its burgeoning demand is a start, the Obama administration is still focused on the long failed U.S. government policy of interdicting the supply of drugs.
The administration will send almost 500 federal agents south to the border, accompanied by more electronic surveillance and x-ray machines, and will also focus on stopping the flow of guns and tens of billions of dollars in payments going south to the suppliers.
Last year, U.S. officials were able to seize less than $1 billion in illicit drug proceeds of the estimated $18 billion to $39 billion routed back to Mexico. Even more snooping into the bank accounts of Americans will likely occur in what will probably be a futile effort to appreciably increase the percentage snared.
The new Obama policy is analogous to an alcoholic admitting to a drinking problem, but then blaming beer distributors and trying to have them arrested.
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http://www.consortiumnews.com/2009/040709a.html