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You claimed that if they were to legalize marijuana it would still come from Mexico, which couldn't be further from the truth, considering that only a small amount of the countrys pot comes from Mexico.
The majority of marijuana in California is coming from local growers now, no one bothers with low grade anymore. Anyone can get a medical card there, and within a few months you won't need anything to buy it legally.
I wouldn't try to comment on a subject you obvioulsy know nothing about.
And there is still growing violence in Mexico despite the de-criminalization of pot.
85% of mexicacas' politicians are working for the drug lords. Only the Calderon is giving the false pretense of fighting drug gangs so he can beg for more US aid. They're good at begging for money.
Last edited by amerifree; 09-12-2010 at 07:36 PM..
85% of mexicacas' politicians are working for the drug lords. Only the Calderon is giving the false pretense of fighting drug gangs so he can beg for more US aid. They're good at begging for money.
Meanwhile 87% of Americans are overweight because they say food tempts them to eat it and cars beg them to drive them. While 90% of the American government is owned by the car and oil companies.
And there is still growing violence in Mexico despite the de-criminalization of pot.
Mexico doesn't constitute the majority of drug consumers in this hemisphere. That title belongs to the US. Only 6% of Mexicans have ever tried a drug at least once compared to 47% of Americans. Its that 47% that is the cause of the drug war in Mexico.
Mexico doesn't constitute the majority of drug consumers in this hemisphere. That title belongs to the US. Only 6% of Mexicans have ever tried a drug at least once compared to 47% of Americans. Its that 47% that is the cause of the drug war in Mexico.
The cause of the drug war in Mexico is two fold 1) PROHIBITION, why don't prohibitionists get that? It is not the use of the plant that causes violence, it's the politics and economics of contraband that does it, any contraband. It's just in this case a plant is involved. 2) Calderon's crackdown on the cartels. Every time the government there has a "victory" by killing or incarceratiing a drug chief it creates an opening for a new more violent leader. The crackdown has also made rival leaders see opportunities to expand their territory, causing intergang violence. Everyone agrees that there was cartel based violence in Mexico before the crackdown, but nothing like we've seen in the last 3 years, since the crackdown began.
The latest wrinkle in the situation --- corruption travels across the border and into US agencies. This is NOT good news but it could potentially cause a refocus on some of the US and Mexico's policies and plans. Hard to imagine a Mex gov official going to jail for 20 years for corruption!
(Following is the abstract of a longer article in Slate, originally published in the Washington Post)
"Corruption on U.S. Side of the Border Is Rising
Hiring standards for border enforcement jobs have been on the decline as government officials rush to fill thousands of openings at a time when Mexican smugglers and drug traffickers are increasingly looking to recruit well-placed operatives to ease their operations. Cartels are now "employing Cold War-era spy tactics to recruit and corrupt U.S. officials," reports the Washington Post, which tells the story of Martha Garnica, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison after helping Mexican criminals for years as an example of the growing problem. A mere 15 percent of Customs and Border Protection applicants undergo polygraph tests and, of those, 60 percent were rejected because they failed the test or weren't qualified. Meanwhile, the number of corruption investigations within the agency continues to climb. Mexican officials have long insisted that U.S. politicians love to criticize the corruption in their country while ignoring the growing problems on the U.S. side of the border.
The most important news and commentary to read right now. - The Slatest - Slate Magazine (http://slatest.slate.com/id/2267069/?wpisrc=newsletter - broken link)
It's hard to believe that a natural plant - used regularly for medical treatments in our earlier history when 'natural medications' were basically all our ancestors had to treat diseases - has become the menace to society that some view it as today. But we all know how we got to this point - and what happened when the prescription drug industry became all-powerful! Natural herbal treatment US businesses still struggle to survive.
Several arguments for legalization, at the very least for medical marijuana, and as an "exit drug". This view from a 'Cannabus Culture News and Views' website as recently posted by a friend on FB.
"The prohibitionists try to tell us that marijuana is not medicine. The scientific research tells us that cannabis can be a useful medical treatment for a wide range of diseases, and there are literally hundreds of scientific studies to back this up. For a 420-page listing of studies showing the effectiveness of medical marijuana, check out Granny Storm Crow's list."
AND....
"The prohibitionists tell us that marijuana is a gateway drug. The scientific research tells us that not only is cannabis not a gateway drug, but is in fact an exit drug from hard drug use, which has shown to be invaluable in helping addicts of meth, cocaine and heroin, along with alcoholics, maintain abstinence from harmful substances."
Intriguing National Geographic video of a LEGAL medical marijuana growing 'plant' along with a little history of early, perfectly legal hemp growing..
Explorer | Marijuana Nation | National Geographic Channel (http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/explorer/3821/Overview#tab-Videos/06170_00 - broken link)
If you want to argue the merits of a drug, we can talk about cocaine's ability to give people small bursts of energy, or decrease apetite, or crystal meth's ability to stimulate for a long period of time.
Many drugs in our time have been found to be useful in certain medical circumstances. I think people here, however, are intent on allowing all recreational users unfettered access to all drugs. Moreover, legalizing 'medicinal' marijuana is a crock; it just creates a black market for fake prescriptions.
Nevertheless... the argument is legalizing ALL drugs as a means to solve the woes of Mexico's cartel violence. A suggestion that #1 will never take, #2 doesn't attack the root of the problem and #3 blames it on someoene else.
Attempting to justify the use of marijuana (or anything else) for medicinal purposes does not in any way shape or form justify it's use for non-medicinal purposes, which we all know is the end game of the "legalization" crowd. Nyquil is a drug which many find useful for the relief of cold symptoms but daily use of it to catch a buzz is not only ill advised but in restrictions on purchases have been added in recent years to deter it.
What the "legalization" crowd doesn't get is that the rest of society knows that 95% of them have no medicinal need or give a flip about the industrial uses of hemp fiber or any of the other hollow excuses that are a front to push for their real agenda which is really the right to legally get high for the fun of it.
If you want to argue the merits of a drug, we can talk about cocaine's ability to give people small bursts of energy, or decrease apetite, or crystal meth's ability to stimulate for a long period of time.
Many drugs in our time have been found to be useful in certain medical circumstances. I think people here, however, are intent on allowing all recreational users unfettered access to all drugs. Moreover, legalizing 'medicinal' marijuana is a crock; it just creates a black market for fake prescriptions.
Nevertheless... the argument is legalizing ALL drugs as a means to solve the woes of Mexico's cartel violence. A suggestion that #1 will never take, #2 doesn't attack the root of the problem and #3 blames it on someoene else.
No Joe, that's not what we are saying. Our intent is to treat these drugs like all other drugs. To tax and regulate their legal sale, and to require adult identification for every purchase so that, to the best of the law's ability, drugs will stay out of minors hands. Today, anyone can buy anything they want. We want to change that.
We also want to start treating illegal drug addiction as a medical problem (just like we do with addicts of legal drugs) not as a criminal issue. Legalizing medical marijuana keeps people who are sick out of prison. Right now in my state of New Jersey, a patient with MS is serving 5 years for "manufacturing" marijuana. He was growing it in his backyard and it was spotted by aircraft on a training flight. This is particularly ironic, because after he was arrested, the state passed, but has not yet implemented, a medical marijuana law. It is pathetic because we are wasting state funds (in a state projected to have an 11 billion dollar deficit next year) incarcerating sick people.
To be factually correct, no Dr in ANY state is writing a prescription for marijuana. If they did the DEA has said it would yank their license to write perscriptions. The medical marijuana laws get around this by requiring a Dr's recommendation, not a prescription. Helps to have an opinion based on the facts.
Yes, it's true that in some states, notably CA, that the medical marijuana laws are regularly abused. That is a problem of enforcement, and the crafting of regulations, not the intent of the law. There are already plenty of bogus prescriptions of legal drugs in America. In fact, the DEA says this is the single biggest enforcement problem they face, yet we don't ban those drugs, because they do help the sick. And if a few stoners manage to get an undeserved medical marijuana card, and get high quasi-legally so what? Is paying for them to sit in prison at between $30,000 and $65,000 a year any solution?
1) The Mexicans themselves are willing to look at legalization as a solution. The two past Presidents of Mexico have called on the current President to engage in a public dialogue on the issue.
2) It does deal with the root of the problem, which is PROHIBITION. It is PROHIBITION that causes the high profits on such a low margin product. It is prohibition which causes the violence, and it is prohibition that needs to end. Increasing the violence by killing more Mexican citizens is not going to solve the problem, as the Mexican government's current crackdown has clearly shown.
3). The blame for the current situation in Mexico can clearly be placed at the feet of the the current President, Calderone. He is responsible for the bringing in the mititary and instituting the crackdown, and he is responsible for the increased violence.
The only solution that will work is to legaize drugs in both countries and seek to regulate and control the traffic. No amount of law enforcement or military action is going to stop the demand in the US, and the willingness to supply it from Mexico.
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NO, It's not
