DRUG-WAR VICTIMS

The discovery of mass graves in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico is a terrible
reminder of how far some people are willing to go to maintain control over
an incredibly profitable black market.

In coming days, many politicians and commentators will be calling for a
tough response to the grisly scene being uncovered in Ciudad Juarez. I hope
citizens won't be fooled by such a call for more of the same. The only way
to stop such violence is to stop the drug war. Responding with even more
violence will push the drug cartels to greater depths.

Historians examining the end of alcohol prohibition sometimes look at the
St. Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago as a turning point in public
opinion about the value of prohibition. That display of ruthless violence
in 1929 left seven people dead. In Ciudad Juarez, the numbers could be ten
or twenty times higher. How many more bodies will it take for us to stand
up again as a nation and say no to prohibition?

S. R. Young