THE EL SAUZAL MESSAGE

Nearly 70 years ago, in a garage on Chicago's North Side, six known mobsters
and an innocent bystander were machine-gunned to death by a hit squad, some
of whom were dressed as policeman. The killings, never solved, became
legendary as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. They were also dramatic proof
of the failure of the "noble experiment." Prohibition, initiated with such
utopian optimism in 1920, had succeeded only in producing a violent criminal
market. Repeal, once thought impossible, followed within a mere four years.

Last month's massacre in a Tijuana suburb has exactly the same significance;
it's a manifestation of the murderous competition in the staggeringly
lucrative criminal market created by American drug policy. Despite huge
increases in appropriations and the frantic efforts of the DEA and the drug
czar, Mexico's enforcement apparatus remains thoroughly corrupt; the army,
enlisted with much fanfare and optimism following recent scandals in the
antinarcotic police agencies, has proven at least as corruptible and is
suspected in the current killings.

The El Sauzal massacre sends a strong signal that our drug policy requires
urgent and critical reevaluation.

Checked-by: Don Beck