Users draw drugs into US; Mexicans feed the demand By David Crary THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 5/27/09
First of all, yes—the drug user "the demand" is ultimately responsible for the choices he or she makes but that does not absolve the drug dealer or "the supplier" of any wrong-doing.
Read the article if you have time but here are a few excerpts...and by the way, if you start to get the feeling that Mexico is blaming America you're not misreading anything...that's exactly what they're doing—that's what they always do.
"...the Mexican government is fighting the cartels and working with U.S. authorities who have promised to stop the southbound flow of weapons and cash. However, all parties are aware of the role played by the U.S. market."
The southbound flow of "weapons and cash" are coming from whom? Americans? Maybe its coming from the (probably illegal) Mexican immigrant dealers hiding out in the U.S.
But according to Jose Luis Pineyro, a sociologist at Mexico's Autonomous Metropolitan University (Autonomous Metropolitan University...what is that?):
”When the U.S. government turns up the pressure a lot, then is when you see a return to the old formula of saying (to Americans), ’You also have corruption, you consume the drugs, you’re the biggest drug consumer in the world."
But it gets worse...Obama's new Drug Czar agrees with Senor Pineyro which I can only assume was some sort of prerequisite for the job.
"Gil Kerlikowske, a former Seattle police chief recently appointed by President Barack Obama as the U.S. drug czar, said the Mexicans ”make an excellent point.”
He continues...
”Our drug abuse causes problems elsewhere. Our per capita consumption is very high,” said Kerlikowske, who argues that reducing demand through education and treatment is as vital as border interdictions in quelling Mexico’s drug violence."
While other countries have their own drug problems they simply don't compare with those we face in the U.S.
"Studies of youth drug use in Western Europe show a few countries with serious problems. However, overall a far lower percentage of young people there are abusing drugs than in America."
Yep. The highest drug rates in the world!
”There’s no escaping the fact that we have the highest drug rates in the world,” said Craig Reinarman, a sociologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
How do we explain this? On wait, I have an idea:
MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE THOSE EUROPEAN COUNTRIES DON'T SHARE A BORDER WITH MEXICO!!
Yes, we need education and more drug awareness/prevention programs but how can we possibly hope to stop this problem if we don't stop treating these dealers like their just doing their job.
Good grief....we're tougher on our own alcohol and tobacco companies than we are on Mexico and their insidious drug industry!
Slap Mexico—stop all aid we give them until the drug trafficking stops and something tells me their government will find a way to do it muy rapido.
Maybe they'll appoint their own Drug Czar...and be smart enough to not headhunt any of our people!
