Mexico's drug war takes growing toll on Americans (home, buying, prices)

[luzernecntygent]

FOXNews.com

MEXICO CITY (AP) — More Americans in Mexico are falling victim to a wave of drug violence sweeping the country, a change driven home by the recent killing of a U.S. Consulate employee and her husband who were gunned down after leaving a children's birthday party.
The number of U.S. citizens killed in Mexico has more than doubled to 79 in 2009 from 35 in 2007, according to the U.S. State Department's annual count. No figures were available for the first two months of 2010.
While only some of the killings are specifically listed as "executions" or "drug-related," the increase in homicides appears to be related to drug battles. In Ciudad Juarez, the northern border city hardest hit by drug violence and where the consulate employee was killed, homicides of Americans rose to 23 in 2009 from two in 2007.

I drove truck in the 70's and 80's and spent many days enjoying the hospitality of the Mexican border towns along the entire length of the US-Mexican border zone (Zona Frontera). I spent many days (and nights in Ciudad de Juarez) which is now one of the most dangerous cities in the world. I was watching some video on Telemundo and Univision showing the streets of the usual spring break tourist towns devoid of Americans or any foreign citizens. Presidente Felipe Calderon started the military crackdown on drug cartels when he was elected El Presidente in 2006. Since then, the body count has skyrocketed like rabbits breeding. I just don't know if all the bloodshed is worth all these guns and bullets when it appears that the past four years of "shock and awe" has had little impact on the drug gangs, cartels, kidnappings and killings.

FOXNews.com - Mexico's drug war takes growing toll on Americans

[touristguide]

Now if we could just get people to stop buying and using drugs all this violence & crime would disappear overnight. HMMMM. who's buying ????
Where's the big market?? Wake up & smell the roses. Or as Eric Clapton sang.... before you accuse me take a look at yourself.

[shiphead]

Originally Posted by touristguide

Now if we could just get people to stop buying and using drugs all this violence & crime would disappear overnight. HMMMM. who's buying ????
Where's the big market?? Wake up & smell the roses. Or as Eric Clapton sang.... before you accuse me take a look at yourself.

Exactly or if we legalized drugs, we wouldn't need to buy them south of the border anymore.

[joelaldo]

I could go on a long, self-righteous diatribe, but instead I will just correct you politely:

It is not MEXICO'S drug war, but rather, The U.S.-Mexico Drug war.

[Wicked Felina]

Originally Posted by joelaldo

It is not MEXICO'S drug war, but rather, The U.S.-Mexico Drug war.

Thank you. This has been 'cooking' for several decades. The US-Mexico drug war has yet to reach its zenith. I believe, as the saying goes, we ain't seen nothing yet in terms of violence.

Or do people think that Mexicans are so incredibly brilliant that they could set up an international ring of illegal drugs distribution and labs without American gangs and criminals building, guarding and controlling the pipelines?

Must be those brilliant Mexicans doing all the dirty work. How many times have people been offered drugs, even the mildest form, marijuana, and turned the dealer in to police? Even on this forum, people post pictures of their homegrown gardens and generally yuck it up about how easy it is to grown your own [I think the subject is evident].

As I said before, as goes Mexico, so goes the USA. You cannot, nor is it possible, to separate to the two countries to such an extent. No imaginary line in the sand is going to stop the continued incursion of the cartels.

My concern with all of these kinds of posts is that this drug invasion would not have been possible if people in the US, including gangs, had clean hands.

IMO, we rise or fall...but we (the US and Mexico) will do so together - like it or not. It is indeed "our" war, not just Mexico's.

[Boxcar Overkill]

There's a reason why there is no Mexican "alcohol gang" war.

The Mexican drug wars are a direct result of the illicit drug market in the U.S. Making drugs illegal causes crime and violence.

Drugs and alcohol both do a tremendous amount of harm to society. But violent crime is rampant in the drug trade, and not in the alcohol trade. That is directly a result of one being illegal, and the other being legal. A beer distributor does not get into a shootout with another beer distributor over turf issues. A Liqour supplier doesn't get in a shootout with a liqour store owners when he can't pay his bills. But with drug dealers, this is common. Because the benefits of making it legal is that contracts can be written and enforced in court, and the distribution chain becomes normalized and legitimate. By making drugs illegal, the drug trade must use violence to solve all of its disputes.

The war on drugs causes more problems then it solves.

[tijlover]

Lengthening this recession would definitely have an impact on our War on Drugs. And I know all those being held in prison, due to unfair drug laws, in the U.S., are on their knees every day praying and praying that this recession not only lengthens, but deepens as well. They can see some of their prayers being answered if they watch the TV news or read newpapers. Due to budget cuts in 2008, 10,000 inmates were let go across the U.S. The stats aren't in yet for 2009, but it's well-known California, alone, is under a mandate to release 6,500 this year.

The eventual default on our sovereign foreign debt would speed things up as well.

Does any country know how to squander money so foolishly than the U.S.?

When I read, last week, that here in Las Vegas, a corrections guard at the Las Vegas Detention Center, earns between $52k and $80k a year, it's a no-brainer as to who, not alone, wants this costly war on drugs to continue ad infinitum.

[stevenvillatoro]

Originally Posted by joelaldo

It is not MEXICO'S drug war, but rather, The U.S.-Mexico Drug war.

It is not The U.S.-Mexico Drug war, but rather, The U.S.-Latin America-Europe Drug war. There is a new push to move drugs from Latin America through Africa and into Europe at an unprecedented pace.

[luzernecntygent]

Originally Posted by touristguide

Now if we could just get people to stop buying and using drugs all this violence & crime would disappear overnight. HMMMM. who's buying ????
Where's the big market?? Wake up & smell the roses. Or as Eric Clapton sang.... before you accuse me take a look at yourself.

The illicit drug trade operates on the same market forces as any other commodity or service market. In the beginning, recreational drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, heroin, morphine and other opiates created a self-balancing market of supply and demand. The demand equaled the supply and vice-versa. Then about 50 years ago, the demand started to outstrip the supply. This caused prices and competition for supply routes to dramatically increase. We now have a situation where the supply actually creates an ever increasing demand for the opiate (processed opium poppy pods). This market is an endless treadmill to addiction, crime and violence. There is always a supply of opiate drugs and ever increasing pool of persons willing to demand the opiate products at any price. With Billions of US$'s at stake, there is just no way possible that the much touted "War on Drugs" to going to brought to any kind of successful conclusion. The next Ice Age will be upon the planet before there is any tangible results from the money, bullets and bodies that have been the "fruits" of the "War on Drugs".

[califantastic]

Originally Posted by Boxcar Overkill

There's a reason why there is no Mexican "alcohol gang" war.

The Mexican drug wars are a direct result of the illicit drug market in the U.S. Making drugs illegal causes crime and violence.

Drugs and alcohol both do a tremendous amount of harm to society. But violent crime is rampant in the drug trade, and not in the alcohol trade. That is directly a result of one being illegal, and the other being legal. A beer distributor does not get into a shootout with another beer distributor over turf issues. A Liqour supplier doesn't get in a shootout with a liqour store owners when he can't pay his bills. But with drug dealers, this is common. Because the benefits of making it legal is that contracts can be written and enforced in court, and the distribution chain becomes normalized and legitimate. By making drugs illegal, the drug trade must use violence to solve all of its disputes.

The war on drugs causes more problems then it solves.

Excellent post. I couldn't has said it better myself.

In the drug wars, Mexico is the victim and the US is the aggressor.

The only reason there are drug wars is that drugs are illegal.

Drugs are outlawed in the US because the US is controlled by religious fanatics who believe that it is their duty to impose their values on other people.

There is nothing wrong with being against drug use. I am against drug use. But whether a person uses drugs or not is a decision that should be made by the individual. Not by a government bent on imposing its right wing values on all others.

When people try to legislate their values into society without considering the consequences, disasters like this occur.

If you are against drugs, don't use drugs. But don't go and try to legislate your values into society.

Imagine if we had spent all this money we have wasted on drug wars, Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, being international policeman etc on education, infrastructure, scientific research, paying off the debt... The US would be in a much better position and we wouldn't be the most hated country in the world. And China wouldn't own us.