CHANGE THE COURSE OF THE WAR ON DRUGS

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is right to point out the role of
Americans and United States government policy in the creation of
powerful and viscous Mexico drug cartels and the violence they have
spawned in that country and ours.

The secretary, during a visit to Mexico, said Americans have provided
a huge market for the drugs supplied by the gangs and, thereby
providing huge sums of money to bribe Mexican officials and guns to
kill police officers and army personnel.

More than 6,000 people have died over the past year as the Mexican
government attempts to eliminate the cartels and their ruthless trade.

Secretary Clinton also called for more effective approaches by the
U.S. government to combat the flow of drugs and the gangs it
engenders. U.S. policies, focusing on "a war on drugs" for the past
30 years, have failed, she said, and must change.

Among the changes should be less emphasis on arresting drug users in
the United States -- the move to repeal New York's harsh Rockefeller
drug laws with mandatory jail terms -- would be a step in the right
directions. Other states might consider more drug treatment over
imprisonment for the vast majority of those involved with the sale of
illegal drugs.

Consideration of legalizing marijuana, or, as in the case of Vermont
and Massachusetts in the past year, eliminating or reducing penalties
for possession of small amounts is another option long overdue for a
trial in the U.S.

And restrictions in the U.S. on assault weapons favored by Mexican
drug cartel members -- especially in the border states -- would seem
a no-brainer.

It is estimated that 90 percent of the weapons used to kill Mexican
police and army personnel were purchased in the United States.

Beyond a moral obligation to assist the Mexicans in the battle, the
U.S. might want to keep these homicidal organizations away by
stopping them where they are now.