CHANGE DRUG WAR ECONOMICS

Re: "Mexico: Failed State?" Sunday Letters.

Almost all of Sunday's letters to the editor about the Mexican drug
war blamed either U.S. drug consumers or Mexican institutions without
posing a reasonable solution. The fact of the matter is that only a
permanent altering of the economics of the drug trade can lead to an
opening for Mexico to reform itself.

Taking marijuana out of the black market, regulating it and taxing it
similar to alcohol would be a big blow to the cartels. Experts have
said that 50 percent to 70 percent of the cartels' funding comes from
marijuana, and Anthony Coulson, a former DEA special agent and
supporter of the war on drugs, stated that if the U.S. were to
legalize, tax and regulate marijuana, it would cause the cartels'
infrastructure for trafficking hard drugs to collapse.

In short, with 50 percent of Americans now in support of legalization,
it's time for us to put the cartels out of business
permanently.

Bryan Milward

Richardson