On Wed, 22 Dec 2010 06:43:01 -0600, "HeyBub" wrote:

DGDevin wrote:

Actually two thirds of the weapons seized by Mexican police at crime
scenes do not originate in the U.S. However the American appetite
for illegal drugs is very much driving the corrosive drug war
underway in Mexico.

Yep.

It's almost as if decriminalizing those drugs
would be worth looking into for a variety of reasons. The single
most destructive drug in the world is alcohol, and yet you can walk
into a convenience store and stroll out with all the booze you can
carry--maybe that's why Mexican drug cartels are not smuggling booze
into America by the truckload and shooting anyone who gets in their
way.

Fortifying the border - say with land mines or radioactive hot spots - is
essentially a one-time expense. Substantial, but only a one-timer. A small
on-going expense is a "shoot to kill" free-fire zone.

Sell licenses. Lease "stands". Turn the border into a money maker.

Contrast this with the repetitive expense of dealing with legalized drugs.
When someone overdoses on alcohol, they go to sleep. I'd much rather contend
with a sound-asleep driver than one who suddenly realizes the cab of his
pickup is filled with cloven-hoofed demons, breathing fire and trying to
suck his blood!

Admittedly, some drugs, when ingested in excess, cause the user to go "on
the nod." Others, such as crystal meth or PCP, turn a 4'11', 90-pound female
into a Berserker that takes five hefty cops to subdue.

As to your assertion of "corrosive drug war in Mexico," I'll admit that the
3,000 murders in just one town (Juarez) seem excessive. But there are a
couple of silver linings: 1) In the main, the killings are by drug gangs
killing other drug gang members. I don't see where the bad is in that. 2) An
attraction to the drug trade keeps a goodly number of Mexicans in Mexico
instead of coming to the USA where they could ply their anti-social
activities with abandon.