Sick of hearing about the mexican drug war? heres the simple answer

just end the drug war here in america

problem solved

no longer will they have anything to fight over because the drugs will be created by legit companies, that will create legit jobs, improving our illegitimate economy that is being destroyed by the rich


tired of hearing how our gun laws might be changed to keep guns from going to mexico to be used in the drug violence there?


tired of hearing how we must change our laws and policies to protect mexico??

end the drug war, and we keep our guns, they have no reason to use guns there if theres no drugs there

if we do that, what will be their next excuse to change the assault weapons policy?

tired of the economy being in shambles?
end the drug war, use the benefits of hemp and other drugs that are now banned.

along with hemp, several other "illegal" drugs out there possess potential pharmaceutical benefits that should be pursued and researched

doing so will create new farming jobs, new research jobs, new manufacturing jobs, and the list goes on.

tired of hearing about problems in mexico and on our borders?
worried the problems on the canadian border will escalate with the escalation of violence and the cracking down on the mexican border?

end the drug war here in america

tired of the increased rate that non-violent americans are being placed in the legal system?

end the drug war relieve the burden placed on our disciplinary systems, our jails and probation systems are in need of a dire break as things are spiraling out of control

tired of hearing about old grandmothers being shot during no knock warrants because they think they are being robbed?
end the drug war and no longer will police need to break down the door of a old woman because they think she possesses a gram of marijuana



i created this thread, because im sick of hearing in the news about the horrible things going on in mexico, im tired of the media hyping all this crap up, im tired of the majority of the crap we see in the news, and when looked at, almost all of it starts with the drug war

in the 30s prohibition was repealed, and things started changing for the better, the community was revitalized, that is what needs to happen now, we need serious change, not just the kind of change that is a political catch-phrase to win an election, but the kind of true change that will turn this country around , we need things to be shaken up

im not promoting any specific drug, im not targeting hemp and saying it is going to save the world, im in no way advocating the use of any drugs

what i am advocating is a change in the way we do things, open up these fields for research, let us use what is available to us

lets give it a shot, we've been trying what we've been trying for a very long time, and we have failed immensely. our failure has been very costly, not just in money but in lives and policies


i dont want this thread to be the typical drug debate thread where one person says yay and one person says nay

what i am hoping for is a realistic discussion as to what it would take for this to truly happen?

what must citizens do? what must politicians do? where do we begin? what are your thoughts?

[edit on 8-3-2009 by Dramey]

Now I agree with most of your post, exept for the problems at the Canadian Border. What problems?

Other than the vast ammounts of Marijuana seeds that are traveled throuhg it every year, I don't really see that as being that much of a problem really.

But you are correct, the war on drugs has been a backdrop for alot of our problems here today, from the gun violence to the killing and senseless murdering.

It's not all about the drugs in Mexico however, it's all a big dog and pony show for people to see whose got the bigger wee wee.

~Keeper

to be honest, im not positive about the canadian thing

while reading the news online like i do everyday from different sights ive started noticing headlines regarding the canadian border experiencing an increase of problems as of late and the headlines try to link it to the mexican problems

and to be fully honest like i said i was, I've been so sick of hearing about this issue in the news, i didnt bother to read those headlines regarding canada


edited because i forgot to say i also agree with you about it not being all about mexico either

it is definitely a world wide problem, however i only spoke of mexico as that is what seems to be dominating the main stream news as of late.

to steal your metaphor the new dog and pony show is the mexican situation at least at the moment in the media

[edit on 8-3-2009 by Dramey]

reply to post by Dramey


Very much agreed, I think the reasons for this are to promote fear among us Canadians and the Americans in the South, to soothe the tention there. They are against the government at the moment, yet the only people who can help them is the government.

They will need to play ball if they expect the government to save them from the Mexican Cartels once this bloodbath spills over.

Fear and propaganda running the show again.

~Keeper

Originally posted by Dramey

just end the drug war here in america; problem solved

I would agree, in part, because of all the victims it creates, giving criminal records to those who are otherwise good, law-abiding Americans, and the costs associated with both the state, and individual.

i created this thread, because im sick of hearing in the news about the horrible things going on in mexico, im tired of the media hyping all this crap up, im tired of the majority of the crap we see in the news, and when looked at, almost all of it starts with the drug war

Well, Drames, my good man, then you may consider cancelling cable, or satellite, or DirecTV, or whatever you've got hooked into your house, and do more thinking for yourself, like I see you doing here!

what must citizens do? what must politicians do? where do we begin? what are your thoughts?

Thanks for asking! I help out where I can, and I subscribe to NORML online, who sends petitions to lawmakers regarding legalization. Anyone can, for free!

Cheers!

Nice seed thread to get the new forum rolling. I am not sure that the posts in this thread would even be acceptable by today's application of the T&C's though.

States in the US have now passed laws that make discussions and planning for their implementation a must, however SO's opening welcoming statements for the new Posse Comitatus forum prohibit our input or suggestions as to how those states might best do that and the people adjust to a new paradigm that is bound to radicalize the way people live openly after over four decades of strong-arm tactics have been used against them and have broken down their privacies and made an open door for authorites into their homes and private lives. Really, we need to talk about it, and not under the threat of a ban from this site.

Throughout ATS people speak openly, casually, and even wrecklessly about recreational drug use. Alcohol is the yellow brick gateway into accepting recreational drug use as a normal, accepted, and even expected way of life. I don't know how often, but very often, I hear ATSers speak of getting drunk, being in the chatroom inebriated, and their plans to get off work and crack open a few cans or bottles and get wasted - and we are expected to say, YAY, go for it! Outside of the spirits such conversations are strictly VERBOTEN even as states are faced with implementing new policy to put those products on their shelves. It will be a difficult task to do properly when dialog regarding those policies is quashed.

Things have changed in Mexico now, the Drug War toll is winding down. This is not accomplished by ignoring it but by not trying to stir the hornet's nest any more than necessary. Even at the peak of its Drug War violence Mexico has maintained a lower homicide rate than more than half the other Latin American countries - a homicide rate perhaps one-tenth that of some of their Central American neighbor countries, yet we focus on Mexico. Perhaps the hegemonous to its north has its own plans and designs on Mexico's resources.

It appears at times Mexico's northern neighbor is trying to stir discord down south. It appears they are trying to convince their citizens that Mexico needs their military help and should invade them for their own good. I live in Mexico and can tell you the truth is nothing like the media hype and propoganda making its rounds. The US drug problem would be best handled if America curbed its own passions for the substances as well as its designs on its neighbor's possessions. The US could eliminate its "illegal immigrations problems" if it wanted to, but the truth is it doesn't want to. It wants cheap labor for jobs Americans themselves are unwilling to do, then wants to blame its neighbors for its own inneffectiveness.

The OP has the solution correct. This much time having passed since the thread was introduced all I can do is agree with the OP, quietly, and would be ostracized from the good company on this site to make such a bold suggestion myself in these increasingly hushed-down times.

one problem with legalizing is the foothold cartels, drug dealers, distributors, etc hold in the market already, that wont disappear, they will do whatever(intimidation, blackmail, kidnapping, sabotage, lawsuits, murder, etc) to prevent competition and maintain dominance over the market, not to mention the increased profits and influence would give them greater political and military power in mexico thus expanding the war against mexico and probably creating full blown civil war.

you have good intentions but it would create chaos and violence all throughout the Americas on a whole new scale, many countries would have an outright excuse to declare war on the US for sabotaging the relative peace held between cartels and governments.

Here goes, stepping off into the deep end.

If the U.S. were to end the “War on Drugs” there would first have to be a whole new set of laws, regulations and taxes created. Some laws could be modified.

On top of all that, we would have to create laws upon which are legal and not legal. Who gets licensed to grow or market? What would be the overall costs?

And we would have to really clamp down on the border due to the blackmarket trade.

FDA, DEA, DOA etc would all be involved.

I think that I’m just skimming the top with these.

The last couple arguments put forth have been similar to those I have heard in the past, that the "cartels" would turn to other crimes in the absence of the drug trade. What I extrapolate from that is a suggestion that the drug trade is good for them and keeps them busy in that endeavor and away from greater mischiefs. Well, it was the drug trade that organized them in the first place, gave them economic power and ultimately political power as well. How big do we wish for them to get?

The same could be said over the empires that were built through the opium trade with China a couple centuries ago. Lessons were learned there about what prohibition prices do for a product in demand, a product that on a free market would not demand one-hundredth of its black market price. The factions that built those empires became legitimate, absorbed into the aristrocracy as "new money" and gained their own political voice. They did not disappear, grab their loot and run off to and island paradise to live out their lives. In fact much of that faction are the controlling families and interests of today. They are the ones calling the shots in our world now.

Who more than those profiteers want to see the status quo kept, the Drug War in full swing? Surely they have influenced propoganda and convinced many do-gooders the altruism of fighting the good war, but what progress has it made? We are trenched in a violent society trying to avoid the fray, more drug users than ever before, and the fight in full swing so that the authorites suspicion us all and offer that pretext as reason to erode our privacies so that now we must let them into our homes when they come calling. Our police are more militarized than ever. Less is being said now than a few years ago but terrorism has been equated to the drug trade, one exists through the other.

Drug abuse may be a blight on society but our drug wars have put an end to polite society and our freedoms. It is a war that was never meant to be won but waged against and funded by the populace into perpetuity. The worse we make it through prohibition efforts the more people scream and beg for more. And so it with our consent we have thrown a free society out the window, cast it into the ashes, and have the government we ask for. We do ourselves proud, and now we must live with it.