TEACHERS SHOULDN'T HAVE TO BE DRUG WARRIORS

Martha Rivera Alanis deserves more than a certificate for
"outstanding civic courage."

She should get a medal for being a kindergarten teacher in a combat zone.

Alaniz was recognized Monday for her quick thinking in the face of
what is an all too common occurrence in Mexico.

The sound of gunfire outside her Monterrey school activated Alanis'
drop and cover instinct. She got a classroom of 15 terrified 5 and
6-year-olds to put their ears to the floor and wait for the shooting to stop.

To calm their fears, she led them in singing Barney's "Raindrop
Song," a musical wish that raindrops were candy.

Or bullets were marshmallows.

The shooting from a nearby taxi stand was the sound of five people
being killed, in all likelihood by members of one of Mexico's warring
drug cartels. Over the past four years more than 35,000 people have
died in such violent outbursts across Mexico.

While federal authorities say most of those killed have themselves
been involved in drug trafficking, plenty of innocent bystanders have
been caught in the crossfire.

And lest we think this is a problem that only affects Mexico, the
number of attacks on U.S. Border Patrol agents is increasing as have
drug-related shootings and kidnappings in the American southwest.

Mexico's struggling economy and high unemployment have made the drug
trade an attractive and profitable, if not fatal industry. This is
why before Congress spends another dollar on the law enforcement
superstructure that so far has been unsuccessful in preventing the
entry of illicit drugs into the United States, it may be time to
discuss their legalization.

That's right. End prohibition and crash the drug commodities market
that fuels not only crime in Mexico but terrorist activities in
Afghanistan and Pakistan. Tax and regulate, then spend more money on
drug rehabilitation. Let law enforcement in the U.S. and abroad
devote its time to hunting down drug kingpins instead of low-level
dealers and addicts.

Surely Mexico would rather spend its limited resources on improving
the quality of education rather than training teachers how to react
when bullets fly.