Posted on 01/02/2010 5:35:36 PM PST by Graybeard58
When Neil Young warbled about the needle and the damage done; when Steppenwolf begged for God to damn the pusher; the focus was on the drug, its harmful effects and the evil people who sold it on the street. Good people have tried to slow the scourge of mind-altering drugs, calling for everything from brutal enforcement ("... (I)f I were the president of this land ... I'd declare total war on The Pusher man/I'd cut him if he stands, and I'd shoot him if he'd run/Yes I'd kill him with my Bible and my razor and my gun," sang Steppenwolf in 1968), to legalization, the solution preferred by many leftists and libertarians.
But neither European-style tolerance nor American enforcement can claim much success. In the United States, drug abuse has declined in some categories and regions, and risen in others, and it has not escaped anyone's notice that Connecticut thus far has managed to avoid the plague of methamphetamine. Still, "Cocaine is still a popular drug of choice and still widely abused in Connecticut," says the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. "Demand for heroin is increasingly high, and it remains easily accessible. ... marijuana can still be obtained throughout Connecticut."
Throughout these and other reports, references to Mexico invariably appear. Most of the drug shipments originate or pass through Mexico. And whatever residents of Connecticut and other U.S. states may think about the drug plague, it's time they started taking ownership of Mexico's plight.
Around midnight Dec. 21, hit men killed four members of the family of a Mexican military hero, 3rd Class Petty Officer Melquisedet Angulo, who fell during a raid the previous week that claimed the life of drug chieftain Arturo Beltran Leyva. It is believed the hit squad targeted Mr. Angulo's family to avenge the drug lord's killing and demonstrate the criminal organization's ability and willingness to strike at will.
Is drug violence south of the border Mexico's problem? Yes and no. By some accounts, more Mexicans are using drugs than before because improved drug interdiction and border security have forced drug gangs to lower their prices to levels where Mexicans can afford them. But the Mexican market is small potatoes. It's American drug users who deliver the big bucks and keep the Mexican drug industry thriving. So what if the authorities grab a few shipments and arrest a few mules or street-level dealers? The drugs that reach their destination yield extravagant profits.
The bottom line is every one of the millions of Americans who procure and use marijuana and narcotic drugs ought to have the deaths of Mexican naval hero Melquisedet Angulo, his family, and countless other victims on their conscience — because it's the ordinary users, not the drug lords or the small-time dealers or those between, who make this industry go.
Ping to a Republican-American Editorial.
If you want on or off this list, let me know.
btt
The truth is that this happened because drugs are illegal. The same sort of things used to happen when alcohol was prohibited and quit the instant that it became legal again.
No, Europe’s permissiveness hasn’t been the perfect solution, but at least they don’t have cops breaking down you doors and stealing your property on the mere SUSPICION that the money you have in your pockets MIGHT be from drug sales.
Just wanted to mention that “The Pusher” was written by the late, great Hoyt Axton. (for those of a certain age, he was also the tinkering inventor in Gremlins).
Mexican naval hero Melquisedet Angulo?
What is the story here?
Isn’t that like saying that it’s the home buyer that makes the fag banking queen such a crook?
/mark
If it were all legal, that family would still be alive. The drug gangs would all just disappear.
“I’d like to buy the world some coke, and do lines in harmony...”
dripping, venomous sarcasm/
I began reading this with some degree of trepidation.
I was afraid the R/A editors were going to come out in favor of legalizing dope.
Thank God they did not. I still have 100 percent respect for their opinions.
Instead you will have drug cartels going legal, making more money than ever without fear of being punished for the damaged done.
Harsher punishment for dealers is a better way to go. We have enough trouble with booze ruining people lives without adding drugs to the mix.
Death to all drug dealers.
If you want to lower crime rates, then legalize everything. Aint going to solve the problem, just sweep it under the rug.
As well as "Snowblind Friend"
Hoyt was a Joy to the World...
Gregg Allman has said that he learned the basics of song writing from Hoyt.
“The truth is that this happened because drugs are illegal”
While there is an element of truth to this, legalization isnt the whole answer. The men who murdered that Dead Marines family at midnight, or who leave 8 beheaded bodies beside a road, arent going to go straight and honest if their product was legalized.
“Just wanted to mention that “The Pusher” was written by the late, great Hoyt Axton. (for those of a certain age, he was also the tinkering inventor in Gremlins).”
Hoyt Axton performed live at my high school about 1964 or 65.
He drank wine off stage, and broke strings onstage.
Great songwriter. Visited the pusher, hisself.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoyt_Axton
Look at all the songs he wrote.
An explanation of why that is so would have been more interesting than the convoluted logic about personal responsibility.
What is the story here?
Can you just summarize in a few words what the naval hero did?...I really don't feel like wading through your link and 20 paragraphs to find out.
I don’t know that I can go along with this. I’ve gone back and forth for 40 years in my thoughts as to how to get this problem under control. And applying blame. Users or suppliers?
I long ago ran out of patience with substance abusers. If I could wave my magic wand, I believe I’d put them on their own island with unlimited supplies of their poison, and let them all go out at their own speed.
The real tragedy is the victims of crime and the loved ones of the abusers. I just don’t care much about the users.
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