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Of course there is a huge demand for drugs- however that doesn't mean that our government should not be doing much much more than they are now to stop this. I just don't think our government takes it seriously nor do I think they are doing much at all to prevent it.
I agree, they can be doing much more than just throwing money at the Mexican Government. They could use the money to reinforce our borders, and that is being done.. slowly.. I don't know if its "surely".
The war on drugs has been a colossal failure since its inception. Actually, it was designed to fail. The government’s war on drugs is simply an illusion --they go through the motions to satisfy the public. Don’t get me wrong, there are many dedicated DEA agents who risk their lives on a daily basis. It’s not the agents who are corrupt, it's their bosses.
There are people in high positions of authority in our government who profit from the drug trade. The agents are simply unwitting pawns, going in circles, like a dog chasing its’ tail. As others have mentioned, if our government truly wanted to rid this country of illegal drugs and illegal aliens, they certainly have the resources. It’s all a facade.
Actually it is immigration they are not focused on. The U.S Government and the Mexican Government are working together to stop the cartels. You know how I know its working? They're reporting progress-- Even on the extremely pro-illegal Univision.
You cannot separate the two. The cartels are using unlimited mostly illegal immigration to establish their drug smuggling routes throughout the USA. A cartel in Juarez can have it's methamphetamines, cocaine, heroine and whatever else moved from the warehouses in Juarez and into nearly ever city and town throughout the USA, mostly because of illegal communities where the traffickers are stationed.
The first "immigrants" moving into a particular area, are usually the good workers. They become established and family members join them, then comes cousin Pedro who prefers not to work hard and likes the money being a drug mule gets him, and here comes cousin Nacho who sells cocaine and meth.
Same thing in this town in Alabama -- the first were the workers but now there are these guys and they didn't get their throats slashed for picking lettuce.
Of course there is a huge demand for drugs- however that doesn't mean that our government should not be doing much much more than they are now to stop this. I just don't think our government takes it seriously nor do I think they are doing much at all to prevent it.
Yes and it takes two to tango. The Mexicans can try until they are blue in the face to blame Americans for this whole problem but that still wouldn't explain why they chose their role in it.
Even if someone wants to buy drugs from you doesn't mean you have to become a drug dealer. That was Mexico's choice and if they really believe that it's all the fault of Americans, then they should want to help us get that wall up. They should want the border closed and enforced but they insist it stay as open as it has been.
Essentially what we have here is a huge demand. Yes, we are a nation of druggies. Drugs have always had a presence in the United States whether we'd like to know that or not. Whether its those teenagers who live in boring suburban areas, to large cities where junkies are at food in the hours of midnight. Why do you think a lot of meth houses are in suburban areas in the first place? When something is made illegal, it becomes dangerous. What happened when alcohol was banned in the U.S? Crime shot up because people started bootlegging it in their homes, people were smuggling it, and hundreds lost their lives. Al Capone comes to mind. I'm not saying to make drugs legal, although some people do advocate for the complete liberation of drugs.
Would methamphetamine suddenly become a very safe substance if it were made legal?
Actually alcohol did not become safe when Prohibition ended. Alcohol related deaths did not end because it was made legal, the problems of addiction actually grew after legalization. Many people die from alcohol related violence, alcohol disease -- and the Al Capone types just turned to other ways to make their money. Like meth.
After reading ALL of what I have to say (No Cherry Picking ) and If you are a conservative and disagree with what I say below, then PLEASE do yourself and me a favor and check out William F. Buckley, Jr’s position on this issue.
If you don’t know who he is then look him up. He was the voice for MUCH of the conservative movement until his death in 2007.
Who is William F Buckley. (broken link).
Quote:
Originally Posted by malamute
Would methamphetamine suddenly become a very safe substance if it were made legal?
Many Drugs would become safer if regulated. When you go to a pharmacy do they give you an unknown substance of dubious purity that may be 10% drug and 90% baking powder or that may have harmful byproducts in it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by malamute
Actually alcohol did not become safe when Prohibition ended.
Actually it did. Many people went blind or died from consumption of Wood Alcohol marketed as Ethyl Alcohol. Research the history of Prohibition. Below is one quick web source.
Quote:
Originally Posted by http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-bathtub-gin.htm
The process for converting denatured or wood alcohol into a drinkable form was not always reliable, so some batches of bathtub gin were genuinely poisonous. The consumption of wood alcohol often led to blindness or even death. The bathtub gin would later be bottled and sold to individuals or illicit nightclubs and speakeasies.
The use of bathtub gin in the United States declined sharply after the 18th Amendment was repealed in 1933.
Quote:
Originally Posted by malamute
Alcohol related deaths did not end because it was made legal, the problems of addiction actually grew after legalization. Many people die from alcohol related violence, alcohol disease -- and the Al Capone types just turned to other ways to make their money. Like meth.
But the amount of funding to organized crime Radically decreased after prohibition. There will always be gangs! The question is do you want them small, infective with limited money, OR large and powerful?
Keep in mind Alqueda-Taliban (As in 9/11 World Trade Center/Afghanistan Invasion) got much of its money from Americans. Both the Drug Users AND those fighting against Drug use.
GEORGE BUSH/AMERICA GAVE THE TALIBAN-ALQUEDA 43 MILLION DOLLAR FIVE MONTHS BEFORE 9/11.
We paid them the money as part of the "War on Drugs". Guess what they probably used OUR TAX DOLLARS FOR?!? To this day much of the Alqueda-Taliban money in their fight against us comes from Poppy/Heroin production, that they sell to Americans. Yes I know it sounds insane but read below.
Quote:
Originally Posted by http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=3556
Yet the Bush administration did more than praise the Taliban's proclaimed ban of opium cultivation. In mid-May, 2001, Secretary of State Colin Powell announced a $43 million grant to Afghanistan in addition to the humanitarian aid the United States had long been providing to agencies assisting Afghan refugees.
We have been fighting this war in it’s current form for almost 40 YEARS, since Richard Nixon. We have yet to make any real progress. Do you recall Ronald Regan's “Just Say No” campaign? We are still in the same war and have made no rel progress. Since that time the war on drugs has helped fund dictators around the world, Including many in S.E. Asia, Columbia, Afghanistan, and Panama, just to name a few.
Our streets flow with drugs, Gangs make money selling them. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WE CAN'T EVEN KEEP THEM OUT OF OUR PRISONS!!! Think about that!!! If you use or sell drugs we will send you to prison where you can use and sell drugs!!!
It’s amazing how so many people who tend to support the concept of Capitalism and Markets and should understand “SUPPLY AND DEMAND” fail to realize it applies to Drugs.
Fact #1. Many of those addicted to drugs will use them and pay any price for them NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO. Watch cops, read the news, Talk to the police. Prison WILL NOT STOP THEM. Some people will always DO drugs.
Fact #2. As long as someone is willing to pay ENOUGH money, Someone else will supply the product and get rich.
Fact #3 If you reduce the supply then the supplier can charge more and make more money, Thus increasing the number of people who are willing to risk DEATH to smuggle and sell the item. Don’t believe this? The penalty in many Asian countries for possessing or smuggling drugs makes our punishment look like a Dream date with Angelina Jolle. It includes 20+ Years in a true HELL HOLE, and Death. Yet people will still smuggle drugs in.
Put those together and you have what amounts to a WAR that you can’t even come close to winning unless you shred the US Constitution and turn the U.S. into a totalitarian state.
Keep in mind ALL drugs currently out there can be made and supplied to the addicted by hopitals for about 10 cents a dose, and each dose at that price deprives a criminal or terrorist $10-$50 worth of money. Multiply that by the billions of doses of drugs sold in America and you can see how we are funding our own problems.
Do I think drug addiction is good for people? ABSOLUTELY NOT! But our current war has resulted in the following. Over Crowded Prisons. Disillusioned Youth. Violent Criminals, Dictators and Terrorists being well funded. Tens of thousands of people being killed. And probably over a TRILLION DOLLARS being spent to fight it.
I agree, they can be doing much more than just throwing money at the Mexican Government. They could use the money to reinforce our borders, and that is being done.. slowly.. I don't know if its "surely".
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The problem with giving money to ANY Latin American gvmt not just Mexico is that we are lucky if 10 cents out of every dollar actually is used as designated.
I've heard many versions of the smuggling of drugs. I've heard the mendonites (sorry for the spelling) from Canada smuggling drugs into Canada through furniture . But seriously, this type of things is happening through out the world. And truly I don't believe it can never be 100% stopped-- but we can hope for the best!
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I agree it will never be stopped 100% but it can be curtailed and that is worth doing.
It will be hard in this case .
Calderon who may be one of the most corrupt Mexican Pres in last few decades is getting money from us and "maybe" from those we want to stop.
The drug families there seemed to get a big boost once he took over .
I tried to rep you Random, but it says I should 'spread the love'.
There's been so much indoctrination over drug use these last 70 years, (dating from the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937) that many people don't even realize their support for the 'War on Drugs' does nothing but continue the status quo.
One added benefit of legalization would be the almost immediate balancing of the Federal budget through taxes levied on such products.
I tried to rep you Random, but it says I should 'spread the love'.
There's been so much indoctrination over drug use these last 70 years, (dating from the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937) that many people don't even realize their support for the 'War on Drugs' does nothing but continue the status quo.
One added benefit of legalization would be the almost immediate balancing of the Federal budget through taxes levied on such products.
Why financially support the cartels??
Thanks for trying
California alone generates BILLIONS of dollars from marijuana. Much of that going to fund violent gangs who have many Illegal Immigrants as memebers.
If instead the money went to programs to educate the youth about drugs, rehabilitate drug users, pay for those costs incured by society due to drug use (Costs that we have even with our War on Drugs) we could save the taxpayer billions and probably get better results.
The White house in trying to justify this insanity even addmits that our drug laws are allowing violent Mexican gangs to aquire BILLIONS of dollars in U.S. Money.
Note the following info is from John Walters, head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Quote:
Walters said the U.S. government is seeking additional resources to prosecute traffickers of marijuana, which now earns cartels about $8.5 billion or about 61 percent of their annual estimated income of $13.8 billion. Cocaine sales earn the cartels about $3.9 billion, and methamphetamine about $1 billion, he said.
“While the criminal organizations that are a threat to both of our countries make a lot of money off of heroin and cocaine and methamphetamine, the vast majority of their money to buy guns, bribe, corrupt and destroy lives is from marijuana,” said Walters, head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.
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) and If you are a conservative and disagree with what I say below, then PLEASE do yourself and me a favor and check out William F. Buckley, Jr’s position on this issue. 
from those we want to stop.
