TO STOP MEXICAN-BORDER MAYHEM, END THE U.S. WAR ON DRUGS

MATAMOROS, Mexico - Garcia's is where Americans go for a quick taste
of Mexico. Or did. Garcia's is a vast emporium here in Matamoros,
selling leather purses, silver jewelry and other Mexicana. Just a
10-minute walk across the bridge from Brownsville, Texas, its shelves
groan with merchandise. And the store's attractive restaurant stands
ready to serve its fajita specials.

But the mariachi bands play for almost no one. Few Americans are
patronizing Garcia's, or other businesses that cater to day-trippers.
They're too afraid to cross the Rio Grande.

When something goes wrong at the border, it goes wrong for a lot of
people. Violence in Mexico hurts business on both sides of the border.

Ask who's to blame, and most American fingers automatically point
southward.

But it's not entirely - or even mostly - Mexico's fault, for reasons
to follow.

Here is the situation. Mexico's drug cartels are battling to fill a
vacuum for control of the market. The fighting is vicious.

Corpses turn up at the sides of roads, some showing signs of torture.
Last month, Mexico had to send armed convoys to restore order in
Matamoros: Six prison employees had been murdered outside a
maximum-security prison holding drug bosses.

Most distressing to the tourism industry, the mayhem goes beyond drug
traffickers' killing one another. Apparent innocents, including
Americans, are being kidnapped and held for ransom. In December,
gunmen abducted Brownsville doctor Charles Rogers at the cancer clinic
he ran in Matamoros. Rogers was released after his wife paid an
$88,000 ransom.

At least 27 Americans have simply vanished. The missing includes
Brenda Cisneros, a community-college student in Laredo, Texas, and her
best friend, Yvette Martinez. Last September, the two had crossed over
to Nuevo Laredo to celebrate Brenda's 23rd birthday. They haven't been
heard from since.

So this is not a situation where an ordinary tourist with average
street smarts can feel completely safe. The U.S. Consulate is warning
Americans to use considerable caution when visiting Mexican border
towns.

Obviously, none of this is good for tourism. Over the past two years,
about 50 businesses have closed in Nuevo Laredo's lively entertainment
district.

Your writer and three friends were about the only recognizable
Americans walking Matamoros' main tourist drag, Alvaro Obregon Avenue.
Here was a street once crowded with retirees, Texans out to party and
other American day visitors. We couldn't go five steps without an
underemployed cab driver offering to take us to the market.

The tourism drought on the Mexican side is sorely felt in American
border towns, as well. Laredo, McAllen and Brownsville all do business
as gateways to their Mexican twins: Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa and
Matamoros. The border crossings are a mere day's drive from San
Antonio, Dallas and Houston.

Who's at fault for this state of affairs? Americans should not portray
themselves as simple victims of Mexican chaos. Sure, Mexico has failed
to contain its criminal drug cartels - and the corrupt officials who
work with them.

But the lucrative market in illicit drugs is totally made in America.
It is the product of our own failings. Our ludicrous war on drugs has
done nothing more than create fabulous prices for cocaine, heroin and
other illicit substances. The United States can't stop its own drug
traffickers from taking big risks in the drug trade.

How could Mexico, with far fewer opportunities for legally obtained
wealth, contain the lust for immense profits?

The American remedy should be to abandon this war on drugs. The United
States should consider the enlightened policies already tried in
Europe, which medically treats addicts and provides drugs for those
stuck in their habit. Close out the market for illicit drugs, and the
Mexican cartels are out of business.

The same goes for Afghan drug lords amassing funds for terrorist
operations. And imagine the money Americans could save abandoning
their $69-billion-a-year domestic war on drugs.

The towns along the Mexican-U.S. border, meanwhile, are praying the
problem will somehow go away. Several have sponsored public-relations
campaigns aimed at minimizing American fears. The immediate hope is
that college students on spring break - not normally a cautious group
- - will shrug at the warnings and head for the bars across the border.
They may not be the prime market for leather briefcases, but they'll
do.