VIEW FROM FOX

Would that the editorial writer, who applauds the efforts of Texas
Congressman Michael McCaul in seeking to double down in fighting the
Mexican drug war, had heard the speech of Mexico's former president,
Vicente Fox, recently at Texas A&M University.

Fox posed a simple question: "Why do you expect us to stop the drug
flow across the border when you can't stop the same drugs from
crossing multiple state borders and being distributed all over the
U.S.?" He also said there was more marijuana grown in California than
in Mexico.

Fox wanted to know why personal responsibility, education and
treatment weren't sufficient, pointing out that Mexico consumed few
drugs and that for decades the Dutch and later the Portuguese
decriminalized drugs and have lower rates of drug use to show for it.
He used an old line, saying that the first failed Prohibition was in
the Garden of Eden and to remember who the cop was there.

When I asked him what he would name as a benefit of Prohibition, Fox
said, "Nothing." He was too kind. The negatives are unbearable.

Dean Becker, Houston