ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF ADDICTION TO THE WAR ON DRUGS

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson urged U.S. lawmakers Thursday to
resolve their differences over an aid package to help Mexico fight
drugs, saying it would be "disastrous" for security on both sides of
the border if the Merida Initiative fell through. In my opinion the
Merida Initiative is another example of our government's addiction to
the war on drugs. The call for approximately $450 million for Mexico
to spend on resources to aid in their fight against their drug
cartels is a call for further escalation of violence. The Merida
Initiative would provide helicopters, planes, computer systems and
police dogs. The process of escalation began during the Nixon
administration and has continued without abatement ever since. It is
a leapfrog process: good guys start to win, bad guys develop new
tactics; bad guys start to win, good guys develop new tactics. If
our officials were to step back and objectively consider the last
30-plus years of trying to control drug use by interdiction of supply
or through fear of incarceration they would have to admit that
neither approach has worked. During this process there has been a
disturbing erosion of civil liberties and an increased level of
police corruption. With all due respect to Gov.

Richardson and his concern for border violence, the Merida Initiative
is not the solution, it is only adding to the problem. The answer to
Mexico's drug cartel problem is to put them out of business, but that
won't happen at the end of a gun. It would happen if the U.S.

legalized drugs. By legalizing, not de-criminalizing drugs,
criminals are virtually removed from the production, importation, and
distribution of drugs for recreational use. Is legalization a 100
percent cure for the problems associated with drug use? Absolutely
not, but it is a major improvement in dealing with the crime problems
associated with trafficking. Legalized means drug production and
distributions are controlled and sales are taxed. Legalized means
that instead of spending $70 billion annually in failed efforts to
stop drug use, much of that money could be diverted to treatment and
prevention education, with plenty left over. What need is there for
the drug cartels if drugs are legalized? Marijuana is one of the
major cash crops in the U.S. Why import inferior cannabis when there
are so many well-regarded regional strains? Opium poppies can be
grown just about anywhere. Direct relationships with coca farmers,
similar to those with coffee growers, will provide the ingredients
for cocaine. After all, where does pharmaceutical cocaine originate?
Simply put, legalized, regulated, and taxed recreational drugs can be
produced and distributed without involving cartels or other
criminals, and the benefits should be enormous. Virtually all of us
that are affected by the prohibition of selected drugs for
recreational use. We are impacted in myriad ways, none of which are
positive, and in so many aspects of our lives that we no longer are
even aware of the connections. Legalization is a rational, objective
approach to recreational drug use, because that is how control of
drugs and drug trafficking is wrested from criminals around the
globe. Criminals should not be making important decisions about
drugs -- decisions about purity, quality, quantities, prices and
consumers -- your child, perhaps? The citizens of the U.S. are not
responsible for the problems Mexico is experiencing. Our government,
with full assistance from the Mexican government, has created a
situation with a very simple solution. Don't send money, eliminate
the need for cartels and do the world a great service. Legalize! To
begin an educational journey, visit the Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition Web site at www.leap.cc/. This piece is not intended to
advocate the use of any recreational drug whether legal or not, what
it does advocate is an end to the war on our population, funded by
our population, and waged by a government that is supposed to protect
that population from outside threats, not from ourselves.

Mike Jones, a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, is
retired from the Gainesville, Fla. Police Department. He has lived
in the Taos area since 1996.