WE, AMERICAN DRUG MARKET FUEL INTERNATIONAL WAR ON DRUGS

It is generally common knowledge that there is a drug war going on in Mexico.

Cartels run rampant through the entire country, making unfathomable
sums of money from the drug trade. None of these drug cartels would
exist if there was not a market for the illicit substances they sell.

We are their market. You see, America has a drug problem. No matter
where you go, whether it is on the SMU campus or to the poorest
neighborhoods in the United States, there will be drugs. It is as
much a part of us as Ford, hamburgers or apple pie.

In particular, marijuana use is extremely high. By the time students
graduate from high school 42 percent will have tried marijuana, says
the National Institute on Drug Abuse. This is where the cartels come
in. Marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamines enter from the southern
border and make their way to your home.

In fact, in 2005 the University of Michigan surveyed high school
seniors and discovered that nearly one-in-five had used marijuana in
the past 30 days. If these are the numbers that are being used, then
it is no wonder that the United States serves as an extremely
lucrative market for marijuana.

Through a long chain of suppliers, dealers and buyers, drugs can be
yours. But it is that chain that concerns me. At the beginning of it,
our neighbor, Mexico, had witnessed the deaths of over 34,612 people
in drug related killings since Mexican President Calderon declared a
war on drugs four years ago, according to the Huffington Post.

We, the market, own those deaths. Sure, your drug dealer might be
friendly enough but what about the drug cartels in Mexico that murder
countless people in competition over territory or because innocents
get caught in the crossfire or still because some have the courage to
stand up against a scourge that is poisoning their country.

It is easy to ignore these deaths when we refuse to make the
connection between our habits and the livelihood of others. What if a
human face is put on the issue? Then it is much harder to ignore the
facts. There are plenty of SMU students that are Mexican nationals
with families in Mexico who are day in and day out affected by the drug war.

When our own students and friends are hurt because of the drug use
that our culture glorifies, the Mexican drug war becomes our problem.
Of course, I can acknowledge that drug use in the United States is
not going to stop instantly; in fact it won't stop at all. What
anyone who feels a moral tinge at the implications of this nation's
habits can do, however, is affect those immediately around them.

Every time someone offers you a hit, pulls out a bong or asks you to
buy from them, there should be a constant reminder of the blood it
took to put those drugs in your hands. Smoking marijuana is more than
just a habit that is debated in Congress or in the student forum, it
changes the lives of people, real people, with real lives.