Re: [Pen-l] this is your war / this is your war on drugs

[Robert Naiman <naiman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I think I've seen the following estimate more than once in the press
over the last week or so: it's estimated that 70% of the illegal drug
traffic from Mexico to the U.S. is marijuana, in part the result of
displacement of supply to Mexico from the U.S. following crackdown in
the U.S. Also that marijuana is estimated to be among the most
profitable of the drug trades from Mexico.

On Sat, Apr 18, 2009 at 6:29 PM, Jim Devine <jdevine03@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> from Thursday's SLATE news summary:
>>> The Washington Post leads with news that, on the eve of his visit to Mexico, President Obama imposed financial sanctions against three Mexican drug cartels by adding them to the list of foreign "drug kingpins." The move not only allows the government to seize the cartels' assets but also makes it easier to prosecute any American who provides support to the organizations...
>
>>> It normally takes a year to add names to the "drug kingpins" list, but the White House accelerated the effort to include the three Mexican cartels, Sinaloa, Los Zetas, and La Familia Michoacana to send a clear message that the Obama administration supports President Felipe Calderón's efforts to fight the organizations that are responsible for much of the violence in the country. The administration is still in the process of identifying assets held by the cartels, which some say means the move is largely symbolic. Still, a Treasury official insisted that it's just as important that now any business or individual who knowingly does business with one of the cartels could face stiff penalties. In the past, the "drug kingpins" list has been used to fight Colombian drug traffickers.
>
>>> The drug-related violence in Mexico has killed more than 10,000 people in the last couple of years, and Calderón has asked the United States to take concrete action against weapons traffickers as well as combat Americans' "insatiable demand for illegal drugs," as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton put it when she visited Mexico last month. And while Mexicans know the drug war has overshadowed everything else, they still want the Obama administration to focus on immigration reform as well as trade issues. Ultimately, they're unlikely to be satisfied by Obama's visit, which the LA [TIMES] describes as "largely symbolic." And symbolism is exactly what Mexicans don't want right now, particularly since they feel like all they got during the Bush administration were "little pats on the back," as former Mexican President Vicente Fox said. So far it seems the White House has no desire to get into a fight with the gun lobby and push to reinstate an assault weapons ban that lapsed during the Bush administration. <<
>
> Why not simply legalize these drugs (perhaps making them prescription
> medicines) while actively discouraging people in the US from using
> them? that would destroy the "cartels" by taking the profit out of the
> business. By intensifying the war on drugs on the supply side, it just
> raises retail prices and the profits for those smugglers who succeed
> in selling. It does have advantages, of course, by providing demand
> for the military's services and for weapons, while kowtowing to
> American puritanism.
>
> If you must have a war on drugs, Mr. Obama, you should aim it entirely
> on stuff like cocaine and meth. Pot and similarly relatively harmless
> drugs should be legalized, encouraging people to use it instead of
> nasty stuff like coke and meth.
>
> is it late enough to have a drink?
> --
> Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own
> way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.
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-- 
Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"It's 11 AM in Washington. Do you know where your foreign policy is?"
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