Mexican drug gangs taking over U.S. public lands

Heard a BBC World Service radio documentary last week on the Mexican drug trade, it focused on the border cities and what is going on there. Really horrible stuff, basically a country being torn apart, and that isn't hyperbole. But as they said, as long as the Gringos keep buying, it will continue.

How people can still refer to these murderous criminals as 'undocumented workers' is something only a progressive can explain...

Seems like Government involvement all around = it would just be easier legalizing it -but obviously that hasn't worked well in Mexico.

Seems like Government involvement all around = it would just be easier legalizing it -but obviously that hasn't worked well in Mexico.

Legalise drugs in Mexico and the Mexican government takes away a shadow economy that fills a gap America, Europe and SE Asian nations do with industry. Imagine the unrest and the revenge killings that would result, if not military coups.

Too risky. Meanwhile, north of the border, President Obama and his party seem unconcerned about the health and very lives of native-born Americans who will be victims of narco-terrorism. Shameful.

Paraquat!

Legalize it and tax it.

Legalize it and tax it.

Quite right. If they levied the amount of taxes on pot that they've put on tobacco the revenues could put a serious dent in state debt. Plus you get aficionado magazines, more prominent bong and pipe catalogs, the economic possibilities are endless. The stuff grows practically anywhere (thus 'weed') so you can get some actual discussion about the effect of soil, sunlight, and rainfall on quality (Connecticut Shade Weed?). While my heart (and to a lesser extend my lungs) may belong to tobacco I can at least ponder the possible investment opportunities.

Legalise drugs in Mexico and the Mexican government takes away a shadow economy that fills a gap America, Europe and SE Asian nations do with industry. Imagine the unrest and the revenge killings that would result, if not military coups.

Many drugs in Mexico were partially decriminalized last year.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8215472.stm

Many drugs in Mexico were partially decriminalized last year.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8215472.stm

Send 'em to jail for tax evasion then

Penalties for drug dealing are too tame and the consequences far too lenient in the U.S. I doubt we can change that under the 8th Amendment protecting us against cruel and unusual punishment, although I don't agree that it should be applied to these cases. I learned that the about quarter of the incarcerated foreigners in Japan are in for possession of illegal drugs. There is no bail system in Japan and they keep them in jail for an indeterminate amount of time before a trial. No such thing as a writ of habeas corpus in Japan, equivalent to the detainees stashed away at Gitmo.

Does anyone think decriminalizing drugs in Mexico while not doing the same in the U.S. is going to help the situation? Until people can legally grow their own or buy it at the store in the U.S. obviously the situation is not going to change. And what is the problem with letting people have the FREEDOM to do these things? What does America have against FREEDOM? That is what I want to know!

So how do you police so much open land?

Superlib, just remove the need to do so.

@HeyLars, They're called national parks and wildlife preserves for a reason dude. Farmers aren't allowed to grow crops or personalise public lands, so why should a drug gang?

HonestDictator, who said anything about allowing people to grow anything in national parks? The problem is they cannot be physically stopped except in your dreams. The problem can be flanked though by making pot legit and so cheap that no one would buy the gangs' product.

America needs to LEGALIZE Marijuana, then and then only will Mexican, American, etc..drug gangs be cut off from this now illegal trade. If dope were legal in all 50 US states plus Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines then lots of this crazy narcoterrorism would decrease. I do not hear of mass killings in Amsterdam. Please someone here, Dutch etc..tell me if there are any mass killings by drug gangs in Amsterdam like now going on in Tijuana, Juarez, Miami, New York, Chicago???

Oh yeah, tax the hell out of LEGALIZED MARIJUANA TOO!

The problem here is not the product itself but the fact that some of the nastiest of drug gangs are moving into unpoliced (unpoliceable) parts of the US, time will come when it will be necessary to send in the army to get them out. As for this ever so logical reasoning that legalisation will remove the problem. Forget it, the product that people want isn’t what will end up in the shops. Government will sell something, but it will be just as “safe” as tobacco and probably get people no higher than tobacco. The black market isn’t going to go away just because some high price rubbish gets legally sold in shops. Besides once having opened the door to marijuana how do you counter arguments that all other drugs are really a matter of free choice? I’m not saying that such a society couldn’t work, but it is one hell of a gamble to take.

America needs to LEGALIZE Marijuana, then and then only will Mexican, American, etc..drug gangs be cut off from this now illegal trade." Well, after you legalize that, what's next? trafficking young girls, coke, heroin?? Should we just keep legalizing things because they've gotten out of control?

Exactly skip, they don't seem to get it. Coca is a plant all they'll probably do is change the crop, or use the areas for some other illegal garbage. These are foreign criminals ruining an environmental heritage outside of their own country. And deportation won't do much either in their case since Mexico has its own problems that have gone out of control and can't keep track of everything.

Legalizing pot in the US even if it does happen, what are you folks willing to do about any problems that arise from that? Oh wait, they didn't think that far ahead yet.

Legalizing and taxing MJ won't make any difference. The real problem is cocaine and more recently crack. Countries that produce and export cocaine, such as Mexico, should be treated as the real enemies and be threatened with war. How many innocent US citizens have died due to violence generated by traffic and use of cocaine? I bet this number is larger than the casualties in Afg and Iraq.

LostinNagoya and HonestDictator, skipthesong, you have lost all the plot! You cannot grow cocaine in Sequoia National Forest! If they could they would be doing that already!

Obviously, yes, they will move on to something else, something completely different, but that something else might be more policeable, not to mention fairly kept out of public hands. Marijuana is neither effectively policeable nor fair to keep out of public hands. Never mind what is next, cross that bridge when you come to it.

Besides once having opened the door to marijuana how do you counter arguments that all other drugs are really a matter of free choice?

You must be kidding Grafton! Nicotene, caffeine and alcohol are already completely legal drugs! Really, they are! Look them up. They are drugs. They are substances which alter your moods and perceptions. Adding marijuana to list won't make that much difference to arguments against cocaine, LSD, crack and heroin. Those other drugs are on a totally different level.

Besides, it makes no sense to be unfair because of a fear that being fair will lead to unfairness! You can't have fair unless you be fair! And if you are going to be unfair, one type is as good as another!

Sorry but we're not about to "give up" as you fervently insist we do since our back is not yet in a corner. Leaving this to just the park service to deal with most likely won't happen. FBI will be involved as well as INS and we may even get some of the National Guard in to help too.

Just because its too big to police every single day doesn't mean it can't be monitored and possibly eradicated.