THE AP CONTINUES TO WRITE ARTICLES WITH THE MAIN POINT MISSING

There are a number of versions of this AP article by David Crary
article in the papers today around the country, but all of them seem
to have the same defect.

They talk about American appetites for drugs, Mexican cartels
profiting, and even about supply and demand, but never once mention
prohibition as a factor.

"The Mexican drug cartels battling viciously to expand and survive
have a powerful financial incentive: Across the border to the north
is a market for illegal drugs unsurpassed for its wealth, diversity
and voraciousness.

Homeless heroin addicts in big cities, 'meth heads' in Midwest
trailer parks, pop culture and sports stars, teens smoking marijuana
with their baby boomer parents in Vermont -- in all, 46 percent of
Americans 12 and older have indulged in the often destructive
national pastime of illicit drug use.

This array of consumers is providing a vast, recession-proof,
apparently unending market for the Mexican gangs locked in a drug war
that has killed more than 10,780 people since December 2006. No
matter how much law enforcement or financial help the U.S. government
provides Mexico, the basics of supply and demand prevent it from
doing much good.

'The damage done by our insatiable demand for drugs is truly
astounding,' said Lloyd Johnston, a University of Michigan researcher
who oversees annual drug-use surveys."

Colorful writing with strong statements that lead... nowhere. And
again, all of the pieces of the puzzle are there, they just fail to
put it together.

For example:

"'It's a drug dealer's dream -- sell it in a place where he can make
the most money for the risk taken,' said Dr. H. Westley Clark,
director of the federal Center for Substance Abuse Treatment...

'When the U.S. government turns up the pressure a lot, then is when
you see a return to the old formula of saying [to Americans], "You
also have corruption, you consume the drugs, you're the biggest drug
consumer in the world,"' said Jose Luis Pineyro, a sociologist at
Mexico's Autonomous Metropolitan University...

'People say, "It's easier for me to get pot than to buy a beer,"'
said Barbara Cimaglio, deputy commissioner of the state Health
Department's Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs."

Hello??? Every part of this article points to prohibition, and yet
prohibition is never mentioned, let alone what might happen if
prohibition were changed or eliminated.

This is irresponsible reporting. Even worse, it's stupid reporting.

Imagine a sports reporter covering a baseball game, say between the
Cubs and the Cardinals, that ended up with the Cubs winning 35-2. He
goes on about how each of the Cubs had at least 3 hits (including the
pitcher) and how incredibly great they all are at hitting. But he
never once mentions the Cardinals' pitching (or the fact that none of
the regular pitchers were even at the ball park having all come down
with the flu). He'd probably lose his job as a sports reporter.

And yet, the major newswires do this all the time when it comes to
reporting the drug war.