Mexico

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/world/americas/01mexico.html?ref=world

 

Attacks on army posts? When does it escalate to open warfare?
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wor...8_gunmen_killed_in_attacks_on_army_bases.html
Do the drug gangs need to add political or religious dogma before being considered a legitimate threat to the state?

 

It is kind of hard to tell the difference between the gangs and the state sometimes.

 

Mexicans facing Drug War violence could seek political asylum in U.S.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/04/01/mexicans-facing-drug-war-violence-seek-political-asylum/

 

And what has cause Mexico to devolve from a relatively peaceful democracy?

US Drug policy.

 

Which has been exported across the world and more importantly, enshrined in an international treaty, which makes it REALLY hard to undo simple things like legalizing marijuana.

 

If legalizing marijuana helps in any way lessen the violence in Mexico, hey i do not really mind if it got done...... Of course our politicians lack the spine to even consider doing something like that,,,,

 

Not necessarily.

http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2010/03/legalize_marijuana_californias.html

 

yeash i was aware (from watching Maher's show) i meant more at federal level as anyone who dared would have to put up with too much crap..

BUt good luck Cali... I think that idea may actually work out.....

 

1 more generation needs to die, then we'll get this all straightened out...

 

The Federal government is hamstrung by international treaties that it signed outlawing certain narcotics. So even though we got rid of the Ashcroft nazis at the Justice Department, the Federal government cannot just pull out of its international obligations.

 

International treaties have nothing to do with why our country has retarded drug policies.

 

Look we can go back and rehash Harry Anslinger's disruption of the entire 20th century, but looking forward the three UN treaties are MAJOR obstacle for any sort of legalization drive.

 

thanks i was not aware of that.... may explain the apparent cowardice from the left....and Clinton a centrist who only said legalizing marijuana may be a good strategy AFTER leaving office

YOu refer to this i assume? I just found it on wiki after what you said...could not find much on international treaties though....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marihuana_Tax_Act_of_1937

 

But how much of the violence is due to smuggling or selling pot?

I thought most, if not all of it, was related to much 'harder' drugs like cocaine, which is never mentioned, as far as I can tell, in the 'legalize it' conversations.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Convention_on_Narcotic_Drugs

 

That is not the point, though. The cartels maintain a steady income from the sales of marijuana and by regulating the drug it will make a dent in their pockets, which is the only way to defend yourself from these people.

 

I find it strange that the US and Mexico are so keen to destroy the cartels in Mexico, whereas in Afghanistan the US (after initially going hard after the opium suppliers) are now seen by many to be turning a blind eye to the same issues.

I heard a report on BBC Radio 4 the other day about how the Russians are pissed off about the amount of heroin coming over from Afghanistan. The report was from somewhere in Siberia, and the problem is becoming an epidemic in some places there.

There seems to be an incoherence in the way the drugs policies are being implemented within US "spheres of influence".

 

That could very well be the case, and it would make a lot of sense if income from pot is at least comparable to income from cocaine, heroin, etc.

If it isn't (which is what I suspect, but I could be wrong) then legalizing pot wouldn't make that much of a dent on the cartels' finances.

Just for the record, I'm not against legalization of marijuana. I just have a hard time believing that marijuana is a big player in the whole drug cartel debacle going on in Mexico right now.

 

Small dent?

Weed accounts for about 70% of the cartels income.


Meanwhile, Texas Border Towns Fear Violence Spillover
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...stories/040210dnintmexicoattacks.1b8b36a.html

 

No, it's giant. More marijuana is imported from Mexico than is produced domestically.

 

I always wonder who smokes it though. Because it's crap.

 

I stand corrected, a quick google search shows weed is actually as important to the carteles as cocaine and other drugs.

This is from wikipedia:

 

I wonder what percentage of Mexican marijuana is now grown in the US, on government land. These cartels are ********ing up our wilderness with their environmentally catastrophic grow operations, which they'll unfortunately keep on doing even if we legalize it on a local level, like we're attempting to do in California.