LEGALIZE MARIJUANA TO STOP DRUG CARTELS

There were 72 bodies found on a ranch ninety miles south of the Texas
border -- obvious victims of a drug cartel massacre. Bullets have
been hitting public buildings in El Paso, and the Washington Post is
reporting that at least $20 billion a year in cash is being smuggled
across the U. S. border each year. What is it going to take to
convince the federal government that current drug policies are not
working? The fact is that the current drug laws are contributing to
an all-out war on our southern border -- all in the name of a
modern-day prohibition that is no more logical or realistic than the
one we abandoned 75 years ago.

Mexican drug cartels make at least 60 percent of their revenue from
selling marijuana in the United States, according to the White House
Office of National Drug Control Policy. The FBI estimates that the
cartels now control distribution in more than 230 American cities,
from the Southwest to New England.

How are they able to do this? Because America's policy for nearly 70
years has been to keep marijuana -- arguably no more harmful than
alcohol and used by 15 million Americans every month -- confined to
the illicit market, meaning we've given criminals a virtual monopoly
on something that U.S. researcher Jon Gettman estimates is a $36
billion a year industry, greater than corn and wheat combined. We
have implemented laws that are not enforceable, which has thereby
created a thriving black market. By denying reality and not
regulating and taxing marijuana, we are fueling not only this massive
illicit economy, but a war that we are clearly losing.

In 2006, Mexican President Felipe Calderon announced a new military
offensive against his country's drug cartels. Since then, more than
28,000 people have been killed in prohibition-fueled violence, and
the cartels are more powerful than ever, financed primarily by
marijuana sales. Realizing that his hard-line approach has not
worked, earlier this month Calderon said the time has come for Mexico
to have an open debate about regulating drugs as a way to combat the
cartels. Ignoring this problem, Mr. Calderon said, "is an unacceptable option."

Calderon's predecessor, Vicente Fox, went even further, writing on
his blog that "we should consider legalizing the production, sale and
distribution of drugs" as a way to "weaken and break the economic
system that allows cartels to earn huge profits... Radical
prohibition strategies have never worked."

Fox is not alone. His predecessor, as well as former presidents of
Brazil and Colombia, has also spoken out for the need to end prohibition.

And they're right. Crime was rampant during alcohol prohibition as
well. Back then it was led by gangsters like Al Capone. Now it's lead
by cartels.

The violence in Mexico is out of control and is destroying the
country. Journalists fear reporting the daily shootouts because of
threats from the cartels. Some schools are even teaching their
students to duck and cover in order to avoid the crossfire.
Politicians are being targeted for assassination.

The havoc has spread into the United States. In March, hit men
executed three people linked to the U.S. Consulate in Juarez, an act
that President Obama condemned. And the same cartels that are selling
marijuana in the United States are destroying treasured environmental
resources by growing marijuana illegally in protected park lands. By
regulating marijuana, such illegal grows would cease to exist. The
problem has been out of hand for quite some time, and a new approach
is desperately needed.

Sadly, U.S. officials refuse to even acknowledge that such a debate
is taking place. Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske has said repeatedly that
the Obama administration is not open to a debate on ending marijuana
prohibition. Even worse, we've continued to fund Mexico's horribly
failed drug war (to the tune of $1.4 billion through the Merida
Initiative), while refusing to be honest with our neighbors who are
urgently seeking a new direction.

This November, Californians will decide whether to legalize marijuana
for adults 21 and older. U.S. officials need to welcome the debate on
marijuana regulation. It's probably the only practical way to weaken
the drug cartels -- something both the U.S. and Mexico would benefit
from immeasurably. We need a new solution to stop this violence.

Some specific acts of violence, provided by Reuters:

* Aug 18, 2010 -- The body of the mayor of Santiago, a colonial
tourist town near Monterrey, was dumped on a rural road, two days
after he was taken from his home. Calderon condemned the killing of
Edelmiro Cavazos, the latest attack on public officials in an
escalating drug war.

* July 18, 2010 -- Gunmen burst into a birthday party in the northern
city of Torreon, using automatic weapons to kill 17 partygoers and
wound 18 others. Mexican authorities later said those responsible
were incarcerated cartel hitmen who were let out of jail by corrupt
officials. The killers allegedly borrowed weapons and vehicles from
prison guards and later returned to their cells.

June 28, 2010 - Suspected cartel hitmen shot and killed a popular
gubernatorial candidate in the northern state of Tamaulipas in the
worst cartel attack on a politician to date. Rodolfo Torre, 46, and
four aides from the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, or
PRI, were ambushed on their way to a campaign event for the July 4
state election.