ABC News: Juarez, Mexico under the equivalent of Martial Law

google video ^ | March 8, 2009 | ABC News, Channel 7, El Paso, TX

[Jim Robinson]

Mexican military forces take over police duty in Juarez, Mexico to combat drug cartel violence. Death count expected to increase.

[LomanBill]

The last time I went to Mexico was with Ed Gillet round about 1995.

I’d enjoyed a dozen or so excursions with him, but the writing was on the wall when we were stopped at a government road block, and upon search the owner of one of the other vehicles in the convoy had 9mm ammunition in his glove compartment.

With our sea-kayaks on-board, It wasn’t hard to tell who was together.

Every one in the group got extorted - “How much money do you have”?

Ed was the guy that paddled a sea-kayak from Monterey to Hawaii back in ‘87; Huevos as big as ostrich eggs, but even he stopped going down there a couple of years later.

A Republic is a system of government, characterized by the rule of law - and when the Law stops ruling, the Republic no longer effectively exists.

Observe Wall Street.

Where’s LEO?

[mikhailovich]

The central theme to this crisis falls on American consumers of marijuana for fun, pleasure, and concoted medical purposes.

The blame is on us.

[A_Former_Democrat]

What is this crap about providing an original of one’s birth certificate?

So you can prove you’re a “natural-born person”

[billakay]

I’m pretty sure you go directly to jail if you bring a gun into Mexico.

[Emmett McCarthy]

If they had required it on my original permit application, it would be a different story. I suspect that some dweeb has taken this action, maybe without legislative support. I am planning to go in with the renewal forms and ask them to show me the statute empowering them to require it.

[b9]

Bad enough drunk drivers, we don’t need more pot heads driving

You are so right, not to mention the STINK of marijuana. We drove up to Julian recently and practically gagged waiting in line for Mom's apple pie ~ the stink was everywhere.

Anyone wanting to legalize drugs has got to be a pothead (or worse) themselves. It's insane.

[TKDietz]

“Crime would be far worse with legal drugs, kids and
others on just marajuana will be robbing and killing
for money for drugs. Marajuana, a gateway drug, then
it becomes crack and coke, etc.”

People on just marijuana would be robbing and killing for money for drugs? What? I have worked in the criminal justice system for many years. I have worked as a prosecutor and a defense attorney. I have never seen a case where someone just on marijuana robbed and killed to get money to buy more pot. That's just preposterous. Some people will steal for anything. They'll steal cigarettes, steal to buy booze, and they'll steal to buy pot. But those who would do that are just thieves, a tiny minority. Most all the crime marijuana causes is related to the fact it is illegal. It's just not a drug that leads to a lot of crime.

People will sell their bodies for drugs like meth or cocaine or heroin. Many will steal to get those drugs, constantly. The addiction to them are so powerful and overwhelming people become absolutely desperate to get more.

On on the whole gateway drug thing, the only thing that makes pot anymore of a gateway drug than booze and tobacco is the fact that it is illegal and all those other illegal drugs come through the same channels as pot. We should legalize pot and have it sold through licensed shops that would be no more likely to sell cocaine, meth or heroin than your average liquor store. The Mexican cartels would lose out on the loin's share of their income and it would actually be harder for them to move their other drugs because so much of that stuff is pushed right down through the same suppliers who sell pot. Pot sellers often sell other drugs, drugs that in many cases come from the same people up the distribution line, especvially when we are talking about Mexican pot supplied by Mexican drug trafficking organizations because those guys are supplying most of the meth and heroin and cocaine that is consumed in this country along with something like half the pot that is consumed here. They smuggle many thousands of tons of pot in every year and on top of that they piggy back in several hundred tons (almost the entire amount consumed here) of those other drugs. Legalizing pot and having it be sold through licensed shops would dramatically reduce pot smokers exposure to these other drugs and make it harder for the cartels to reach end consumers with these drugs. That's what we need to do.

[b9]

Excuse me, but it sounds like you are a pot smoker.
One who does not smoke pot would never advocate what you propose.

[TKDietz]

“Excuse me, but it sounds like you are a pot smoker.
One who does not smoke pot would never advocate what you propose.”

Bull. There are plenty of us who don’t smoke pot who see that we are causing more harm than good trying in vain to keep up the ban. You know, if you look at recent polls on attitudes about marijuana legalization you would see that now over 40% of American adults support regulating marijuana similar to alcohol. These aren’t all pot smokers. Not nearly that many smoke pot.

[b9]

Sorry, but I don’t believe for a minute that non pot smokers favor legalizing the drug.

Druggies lie. Genuine ex-druggies do NOT favor making it more available.

We’ll just have to agree to disagree.

[TKDietz]

Okay, now you are calling me a druggie and a liar. Do you think that 40% or more of American adults are druggies and liars?

Here is a link to results from a Rasmussen poll done in February where 40% were for legalizing marijuana, 46% were against, and the rest were undecided: http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/lifestyle/general_lifestyle/february_2009/40_say_marijuana_should_be_legalized

I can't find a link to the January 2008 CBS/New York Times poll that had 41% for legalization and 52% against, but here is an article that talks about it: http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2009/3/2/support-legalization-marijuana-increases/

A recent Zogby poll had 58% of the people in your neck of the woods, the West Coast, supporting legalization. Nationwide, according to that poll, 44% supported legalization while 52% opposed it. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1510744/to_legalize_and_tax_marijuana.html?cat=17
http://www.canorml.org/news/zogby2.html

I am not a liar. I am not a druggie. I am one of the growing number of people who believes that we are causing a lot more harm than good keeping marijuana illegal. I can understand why you would be opposed to legalizing marijuana. I don't mind when people disagree with me. I do not, however, like be called a druggie or a liar.

[SoCalPol]

I was with the County Attys in San Diego for many yrs. until I ret.

I have a clue about the legal system

[TKDietz]

Good for you.

[b9]

Your past postings betray your drug history.

[TKDietz]

So what? I'm a male in his mid forties. Most of us fooled around with drugs some in the past. It's just one more thing that makes me qualified to talk about these issues. I've been there and done that. I've also worked in the criminal justice business for many years. I've prosecuted. I've defended. I was an active member of a drug court committee for several years. I've handled countless drug cases as an attorney, from little possession cases on up to cases involving millions of dollars worth of drugs. I have extensive knowledge of the drug markets and organized crime. I keep up with drug policy discussions around the world. I read about every government study on drugs that comes out. I keep up with the data on drug use, drug production, etc. I know what I'm talking about.

So what is your point?

[TKDietz]

You know what, forget my last post. I'm not going to defend myself at all. You started getting personal with me from the get go accusing me of being a druggie. You made this preposterous assertion that no one who is not a pot smoker could support legalizing marijuana, and again you call me a druggie and a liar. I showed you results from three surveys conducted within the last three months where 40+% of American adults surveyed said they were for legalizing marijuana. You and I both know that nowhere near 40% of American adults are pot smokers. More than that have smoked pot but very few still do. So, clearly you were wrong in your ridiculous assertion that only pot smokers support marijuana legalization. Do you say, “wow, I had no idea so many were for legalization,” or “hmm, maybe I was wrong and there really are lots of people who don't smoke pot who are for legalizing it?” No, you come back with this thing about me using drugs in the past, something completely irrelevant. Why would you do that? Because you got nothing else. You don't know what you are talking about but you darned sure don't want to admit you were wrong.

Go away and never post to me again, lady. I have no time for people like you.