DRUGS, GUNS AND MEXICAN VULNERABILITIES

Re "Mexico cartels outgun towns," July 9

I would like to point out the similarities between the problems of
illegal immigration and drug-running. In both cases we see the
workings of the simple economic laws of supply and demand: We have the
demand, they have the supply.

In the case of immigration, no amount of legislation or fence building
will change the present situation, although the guest worker proposal
was a good start. Until either the demand for workers or the supply by
Mexico and other Latin countries dries up, the status quo will hold.
As for drugs, only the legalization of marijuana and other drugs will
change matters, because the cartels would no longer receive huge
profits. In the case of illegal drugs, our endless demand is tearing
apart Mexican society.

Julian Palley

Irvine