Mexican cartels cannot be defeated, drug lord says

[mrjarrell]

The drug lord is correct and wrong at the same time. We could defeat them with the stroke of a pen and the resolve to undo decades of wrongheaded behaviour and wasteful spending. If the US were to re-legalise drugs the power of the markets would force the Mexican drug lords out of business. As it is they are selling unsafe and inferior products. Could they seriously compete with Eli Lilly, Roche or Phillip Morris? Nope. They couldn't even come close, as we've seen with the operations in California and British Columbia. It's long past the time that we shifted the paradigm and took the criminal element out of the issue.

via The Washington Post

- Mexico's war on the drug trade is futile even if cartel bosses are caught or killed as millions of people are involved in the illicit business, a senior drug chief said in an interview published on Sunday. Ismael "el Mayo" Zambada, the right hand man of Mexico's most notorious drug lord, Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, blamed the government for surging drug violence and said President Felipe Calderon was being duped by his advisors into thinking he was making progress.
"One day I will decide to turn myself in to the government so they can shoot me. ... They will shoot me and euphoria will break out. But at the end of days we'll all know that nothing changed," Zambada told the investigative newsmagazine Proceso.
"Millions of people are wrapped up in the narco problem. How can they be overcome? For all the bosses jailed, dead or extradited their replacements are already there."

More at the source.

 

[360]

If drugs were legalized, the unemployment line would grow even longer.

 

[LEaSH]

Hard to say. It would create some jobs. Government would want to spend money on tracking and taxing and counting money.

Private sector might include retail outlets and things of that nature. It might finally allow agrarians to cultivate hemp again. And find applications in industry.

DOC's officers might end up in unemployment lines. I'd like to see that. but it isn't going to happen.

 

[Ogre]

If drugs were legalized, the unemployment line would grow even longer.

how so?

 

[DocBoCook]

yes, please explain?

 

[mrjarrell]

If drugs were legalized, the unemployment line would grow even longer.

Why? If your asserting that more people would use, if it were legal, I don't know that that would be the case. Nothing's stopping people from using right now. There would likely be a lot fewer kids using drugs, since there would likely be a regulation factor in most states. As it right now a kid has better access to pot and other drugs than they do a fifth of Jack Daniels. Those of us who currently do not use are highly unlikely to take up the habit, (unless a doctor advised it for serious reasons). Not sure we'd see any more drug usage than we currently do. That has certainly been the case in places like Holland, where drug usage is down, despite easy access.

 

[boozoo]

Unless a dramatic shift is made, he's right.

The amount of money and the levels of corruption it has bred are staggering. I've been reading a very long thread for a few weeks now on a semi-private board by some Rio Grande Valley locals and the amount of violence going on in northern Mexico right now is stunning. DAILY gun battles, not just the smattering that the MSM has bothered to cover. I think they're afraid to cover it, if you ask me. Well... unless they can somehow make it seem like all those full-autos are streaming in from our evil gun shops and straw man purchases.

I wish I could share the thread with y'all, but I'll just say this - they are operating right out in broad daylight. They even put signs and logos on their vehicles and hang banners and take out freaking billboard ads! They suppress local media and politicians with brutal violence (executing reporters and mayors, and police is not uncommon). They rob, kidnap, and kill seemingly at will.

The one thing I have taken away from this is there a 3-way war going on right with the Zetas in the middle of it. The general impression is things will calm down only when the Zetas are wiped out.

But.... you will always have the cartels unless drugs are legalized or the border is intensely armed with ROE allowing them destroy anything that moves across. Even then, I fear that the money tossed around will be too much for some our boys in the service to resist crossing the line. I don't think the situation is hopeless, but I do think as long as we have feel-good liberals and the ACLU around, we won't have the stones to do what needs to be done.

 

[USMC_0311]

If drugs were legalized, the unemployment line would grow even longer.

Yea and before you know it some goverment program will fund their habits.:D

I doubt you would see longer unemployment lines, though.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

Well, they can be defeated, but it means government has to give up it's power over drugs. That's not going to happen anytime soon, although the coming marijuana re-legalisation may blaze a trail for us.

That has certainly been the case in places like Holland, where drug usage is down, despite easy access

Or Portugal.

 

[Greenmonsta79]

Send in a Predator B Drone and kill em all! Whispering death and do it in the evening they won't even see it coming and the Mexican drug gangs won't see it coming until they open their eyes and see their maker!

 

[360]

If drugs were legalized, the unemployment line would grow even longer.

Hard to say. It would create some jobs. Government would want to spend money on tracking and taxing and counting money.

Private sector might include retail outlets and things of that nature. It might finally allow agrarians to cultivate hemp again. And find applications in industry.

DOC's officers might end up in unemployment lines. I'd like to see that. but it isn't going to happen.

how so?

yes, please explain?

Why? If your asserting that more people would use, if it were legal, I don't know that that would be the case. Nothing's stopping people from using right now. There would likely be a lot fewer kids using drugs, since there would likely be a regulation factor in most states. As it right now a kid has better access to pot and other drugs than they do a fifth of Jack Daniels. Those of us who currently do not use are highly unlikely to take up the habit, (unless a doctor advised it for serious reasons). Not sure we'd see any more drug usage than we currently do. That has certainly been the case in places like Holland, where drug usage is down, despite easy access.

Yea and before you know it some goverment program will fund their habits.:D

I doubt you would see longer unemployment lines, though.

Fair enough that my comment might be misinterpreted.

It was borderline sarcastic, as I meant the government enforcers would be out of a job.

In no way was it aimed at users, although it is safe to say that there would be a growing trend of laziness, lost jobs because of, and other unforeseen problems.

 

[IndyBeerman]

The drug lord is correct and wrong at the same time. We could defeat them with the stroke of a pen and a about 6 well placed napalm bombs at each drug loads residence

FTFY

 

[E5RANGER375]

If drugs were legalized, the unemployment line would grow even longer.

i dont think you meant it this way but i think that sometimes thats what the people against legalization of safe drugs like marijuanna want you to believe. but its not true.

id rather people smoke a J, or eat a magiic brownie occationaly instead of being hooked on prescription meds that DESTROY their boddies but make drug manufacturers and doctors RICH. Also prescription pain killers are the BIGGEST gateway drugs there are because they are sddictive, where pot is not physically addictive (been scientificly and medicaly proven as FACT).

leagalize marijuana and watch crime rates go way down. and people become much happier!!! i realy cant even believe it hasnt been legalized in this day and age. when it was made illegal it was all just a witch hunt anyways.

the fact remains the ONLY MAIN REASON, marijuanna is not legalized is because the federal Govt and local law enforcement, including prisons, would lose so much money and funding because of the loss of people to arrest for petty dope crimes. also look at how much stuff they make per year on confiscations. a lot of that money and houses and cars, etc, are never "reported". the departments use them and they make out like fat rats

 

[360]

i think that sometimes thats what the people against legalization of safe drugs like marijuanna want you to believe. but its not true.

id rather people smoke a J, or eat a magiic brownie occationaly instead of being hooked on prescription meds that DESTROY their boddies but make drug manufacturers and doctors RICH. Also prescription pain killers are the BIGGEST gateway drugs there are because they are sddictive, where pot is not physically addictive (been scientificly and medicaly proven as FACT).

leagalize marijuana and watch crime rates go way down. and people become much happier!!! i realy cant even believe it hasnt been legalized in this day and age. when it was made illegal it was all just a witch hunt anyways.

As I stated above, my comment wasn't directed at the end user, but the enforcers. There is a LOT of federal monies, and resources allotted for drug prevention/education.

 

[mrjarrell]

FTFY

That didn't fix anything. It just ignored facts and replaced them with empty rhetoric.

 

[E5RANGER375]

As I stated above, my comment wasn't directed at the end user, but the enforcers. There is a LOT of federal monies, and resources allotted for drug prevention/education.

yep i know thats not what you meant. i kinda changed and added to my post anyways. i see what you were saying and i agree with you from your elaborated statements

 

[mrjarrell]

Fair enough that my comment might be misinterpreted.

It was borderline sarcastic, as I meant the government enforcers would be out of a job.

In no way was it aimed at users, although it is safe to say that there would be a growing trend of laziness, lost jobs because of, and other unforeseen problems.

That's the kind of unemployment we can all get behind. Think of the billions of dollars we'd save and the thousands of lives that wouldn't be ended or destroyed.

 

[jedi]

That didn't fix anything. It just ignored facts and replaced them with empty rhetoric.

Exactly killing the current drug lords and thier #2 and even all the way down the line to the lowest LT will NOT solve the problem. You would just get "new" people taking over and continuing the trade.

In Southern America where the drugs are grown the problem is that a farmer earns MORE money buy growing the drug crops than anything else. So it makes no sense for him to crop coffee, beans, etc when it's more profitable to grow the drugs. The plantations that the drug lords own being a "farm hand" still pays more/better than any city/farm job.

At the other end of the speturm, America continues to demand the drugs. So where there is a demand there will be a supply. The "War of Drugs" has been an utter failure & yet our government continues to pour more $$$ on the problem trying the same thing over and over thinking that will solve the issue.

 

[wonderhamster]

If you feel strongly about it, you can help try to make a change. Some of us already are:
re-legalize indiana - Help Our State Though the End of Prohibition with HONOR and DIGNITY.

 

[Blue Tile Spook]

Hard to say. It would create some jobs. Government would want to spend money on tracking and taxing and counting money.

My opinion is that there would be a large increase "needed" (as per the .fedgov) in IRS agents, FDA and others to track, administer rules and such. If we laid off the current .gov workers that deal with cigarettes, 2nd hand smoke, etc., how many would that be? I think I can apply nearly the same number of employees to the number "needed" to deal with the newly legalized drugs.