ACTION NEEDED DO ADDRESS DRUG WAR

American leaders should consider Mexican President Felipe Calderon's
bombshell the first shot fired in a course redirection for both nations.

At the United Nations last week, Calderon pleaded with nations whose
residents buy illegal drugs to help cut demand and thus hit the drug
cartels that hold Mexico and its economy hostage. He said these
nations are "obligated to look for other ways, including market
alternatives that prevent narco-traffickers from continuing to be the
origin of violence and death," according to a Los Angeles Times report.

Calderon has used the phrase "market alternatives" more than once
before and since that speaking engagement. He stops short of saying
the United States should legalize drugs, but that's the message more
and more are getting from the Mexican president.

Mexico fights a true war on drugs -- one in blood on the streets of
its cities large and small, in its tourist-populated areas and those
off the beaten track. The nation counts 40,000 murders in five years.
Its cartels count the American drug trade, by some estimates, as a $30
billion a year industry.

American leaders appear to agree that the problem plagues Mexico and
spills across the border into our nation. But actions do not follow
words of support.

Instead of analyzing Calderon's words, it's time for our nation to
take a serious look at the drug war and the cartels fueling it to the
south. Then action must follow.

Our nation can start by better securing our borders, addressing
weapons trafficking and refocusing the drug war on this side of the
border. Yes, that may even need to include revisiting how our drug
laws address marijuana use.

But outright legalization is not the answer for America, nor is it for
Mexico. President Calderon knows that, as he even fought California's
recent ballot issue to decriminalize possession of small amounts of
marijuana.

How we fight the battle on Mexican soil also must be
considered.

Mexico certainly has suffered, but its leaders, too, need to review
their handling of corrupt police, judges and others in government.

Mexican cartel problems may center on drugs, but they are only one cog
in the machine, just as drug use is only one battlefront in the
ongoing drug war.