LOSING THE WAR ON DRUGS

Mexico

Imagine if murders in Philadelphia tripled. Imagine if they
quadrupled. Imagine living in Juarez, Mexico. With a population about
the same as Philadelphia's 1.4 million, Juarez had 1,600 murders last
year; Philadelphia had 332.

Last month, Juarez had more than 80 murders. If you think that sounds
like a war zone, you would be right. Juarez is on the front lines of
the so-called war on drugs. That multi-decade misadventure has filled
U.S. prisons with thousands of drug-law violators, but hasn't done
enough to stem our demand for drugs.

Overall drug use among America's youth is down 25 percent since 2001,
according to a University of Michigan study. But 32 percent of 12th
graders said they used marijuana over the past year.

"Marijuana is as available to teenagers in this country as candy,"
says Joseph A. Califano Jr., president of the National Center on
Addiction and Substance Abuse.

Marijuana isn't the only illegal drug exported from Mexico. Ninety
percent of the cocaine in this country made its way here through
Mexico. It is also the major source of much of the heroin and
methamphetamine found in this country.

The lucrative U.S. market has spawned heavily armed drug cartels in
Mexico. These bandits export 90 percent of their weapons from our
side of the Rio Grande. Using their American guns, the cartels have
parts of Mexico, especially border cities like Juarez and Tijuana,
gasping to avoid drowning in a bloodbath.

The cartels aren't just killing rival drug dealers; they are
kidnapping and killing soldiers, police, judges, journalists - anyone
who gets in their way. Some victims have been beheaded. The U.S.
State Department has alerted American travelers to take care in
Mexico. The U.S. consul estimates that at least 30 Americans were
killed in Juarez last year.

The University of Arizona has advised students to avoid taking spring
break in Mexico. Travel restrictions have been placed on U.S.
soldiers stationed near the border at Ford Hood and Fort Huachucha.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon has mobilized troops to fight the
cartels. Our government is fighting the drug lords, too.

This past week, U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced
the arrest of 755 people nationwide associated with a Mexican cartel.
Also seized were nearly $60 million in cash, 13 tons of cocaine,
eight tons of marijuana, and a half-ton of methamphetamine. Yet the
availability of those drugs on the streets of America is little disturbed.

So what's the answer? An El Paso city councilman proposed that his
Texas city across from Juarez consider legalizing drugs. The mayor
vetoed the idea. But other U.S. cities are thinking hard about
regulating and taxing some drugs, rather than leaving that enterprise
to gun-wielding criminals. Proposed medical marijuana laws, including
one before the New Jersey Legislature, may be a step in that direction.

In the meantime, this country must do more to stop assault weapons
from flowing across the border into Mexico. It also must step up the
delivery of weapons, communications equipment, and helicopters
promised by former President George W. Bush to the Mexican military
under the Merida Initiative. And this country must further reduce our
demand for illegal drugs by putting more resources into counseling
and treatment.

Mexico can't be ignored. Former U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey says
"Mexico is on the edge of the abyss" of becoming "a narco-state."
Former CIA chief Michael Hayden says the drug cartels have made
Mexico as much a national security threat for America as Iran. Our
neighbor deserves our attention. What happens there affects us greatly.