So is Mexico's economy ever going to be able to take off and do well with a government full of corruption thanks to drug money? http://www.economist.com/world/la/displayStory.cfm?story_id=4131600 Mr Salazar is not alone in this belief. The failure of drug prohibition in the United States is wreaking havoc in northern Mexico. In the past, much Colombian cocaine reached the United States through the Caribbean. Repression has made that route riskier. But instead of checking the overall flow, this has merely re-routed it via Mexico. According to an assessment by the United States' government, last year 92% of cocaine entering the country did so through Mexico, up from 77% in 2003. The story is the same for other drugs. The United States Department of Justice's latest National Drug Threat Assessment notes that marijuana production in Mexico increased by 70% in 2003 (the most recent year for which figures are available). It also gives warning that Mexico's output of heroin and methamphetamine is increasing. Anthony Placido, an official at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), told Congress recently that methamphetamine seizures on the United States southern border are up 74% since 2001.
Just one more sign that the "war on drugs" is an abysmal failure and waste of resources. With the death grip the religious right has on politics these days, I really see no reason to believe it will end soon. A big enough herd of sheep trumps logic everytime.