US encourages drug trade

[dieseltaylor]

Japan has strict immigration laws that bar entry to those convicted of drug offences, although exceptions are occasionally granted.

The star was arrested in Las Vegas last month.

Police stopped a car she was a passenger in and a small amount of cocaine was found in a purse.

Ms Hilton was fined $2,000 (£1,286), ordered to complete 200 hours of community service and a drug abuse programme.

She was also told she would be jailed if she was arrested again in Las Vegas in the next year.

Paris Hilton had also been due to visit Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and open a new retail store in Jakarta, Indonesia.

So people die by the thousands in Mexico whilst the users who fund the drug trade get a slap on the wrist if they are famous. Way to go.

If I were a Mexican I would be fuming at my country collapsing towards arnarchy as the US consumers paid for the cartels.

[Stalins Organ]

I'm pretty sure UK consumers also finance a significant drug trade.

I know the NZ Methamphetamine trade has been "valued" at about NZ$1.2 billion in a recently released police summary (about US$0.9 billion) and there's only 4.3 million of us and that's only the 1 drug!

While the US might be the biggest and richest market, it's a bit rich (sic) to suggest it is the only one!

[dieseltaylor]

While the US might be the biggest and richest market, it's a bit rich (sic) to suggest it is the only one!

Who suggested it was the only one? But for Mexicans I suspect the NZ market is not a big source of gang income. The US seems to be intent on learning nothing from history - Prohibition. Either enforce rigorously or not at all, the present fannying about provides the worst possible situation

Legalise some drugs and place them under state control to pay for Health Care are and be very rigorous about suppressing others - tax avoidance you knwo : )

[Stalins Organ]

by highlighting only 1 country of consumers and 1 country of supply you focus on them to teh exclusion of others - the intent seems to be to put blame on a single nation for a situation - otherwise you would ahve identified myriad other supply/consumption patterns.

How about this one - Europe is to blame for the situation in Afghanistan, because that's where the largest portion of Afghani opium heads to - and there are a lot more deaths in Afghanistan than in Mexico per annum.....

[dieseltaylor]

I have no problem with you extending the thread to other countries : ) However I am not sure you are up-to-date with the facts.

Mexico

Two weeks ago, a government report that legislators leaked spoke of 22,700 deaths over little more than a three-year period, a far higher body count than the 18,000 or so given by El Universal, a leading newspaper

and then read here

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/aug/10/afghanistan-civilian-casualties-statistics

So which country is a war zone and which one is taking the most deaths?

One might also make the point that in both cases it would appear the US has some involvement - with rumours of some collusion with the regional [non-Taliban] drug lords. Could it possibly be true.

Of course the Taliban had almost killed the export of opium pre-invasion ... perhaps you might like to start your blame apportionment from that point. : )

[Stalins Organ]

The Taliban did eventually cut poppy growing....but only AFTER they oversaw the largest ever crop in Afghanistan in 1999 - they changed their minds in 2000.

and in 2010 NATO rejected a Russian proposal to aerial spray poppies....citing concern about the income of Afghani's, and now the US military ignores it (it is not central to anti-terrorist strategies), both the Taliban AND Kharzai regimes grow it - one fighting against the US/NATO force, the other fighting with it.....

Of those 22,000 Mexican dead, the Mexican president said that 90% were drug traficers & othe gang members, 5% military/police and 5% innocent bystanders and no-one has put up any other figures (but then no-one really knows, so pick a figure.....)

so civilian deaths in the Mexican war on drugs are 1100 or so over 3 years. Afghani civilian deaths in the 1st 6 months of 2010 are 1271 - roughly 7 times the "official" rate of civilian deaths in Mexico.

[dieseltaylor]

: )

Nice to see you have done some research. So lets get this straight. Mexico is not at war but is having its police and government officials murdered - often in extremely barbaric ways - by gangs who are funded and exist to supply the US drug market.

Now if it makes you feel better that they do not count as they are "gangsters" then I suppose I suggest we remove some of the civilians from the Afghan list as they are no doubt Talibans or possibly even criminals.

BUT, to revert to the US/Mexico point can you say there is a more obvious example of one country being destabilised by another "friendly" power.

While DTOs still use firearms to establish control over drug trafficking routes leading to the United States, in the last few years they more regularly use firearms in open combat with rival DTOs, Mexican authorities, and the public. Such open confrontations with the Mexican state indicate a move “into a sphere that is typically inhabited by groups with a much more overt political stance, such as terrorists, guerrillas or paramilitaries.” 25 Mexican DTOs are also demanding more sophisticated firearms and larger quantities of arms and ammunition. The resulting murder rate is now seven times what it was at the beginning of the decade, and Mexico’s democratic governance is at serious risk.

Despite increased efforts by both governments to reduce Mexican DTOs access to large volumes of firearms and rounds of ammunition, the DTOs continue to obtain and use such firearms and ammunition from the United States and elsewhere to attack Mexican police, justice officials, and recently officials from the U.S. Department of State. In some cases, the large volume of ammunition or the military-style firearms used by the DTOs enabled them to overpower Mexican federal or local police or assassinate Mexican officials. DTOs are also increasingly using firearms to attack or kidnap journalists, politicians, and businesses and level “taxes” on the public. As a result of all of these actions, the Mexican government’s efforts to provide public security to its citizens is seriously eroding, putting Mexican citizens at significant risk both from targeted attacks and as collateral damage. DTO actions are also contributing to major migration away from the violence and, in some cases, towards the United States.

http://www.wilsoncenter.org/news/docs/U.S.%20Firearms%20Trafficking%20to%20Mexico-%20Goodman%20Final.pdf

So there you go just find me a more blatant case of cause and effect and I will happily discuss that. Or if you agree there is no better example we can move on to what the options are.

[Mace]

legalize drugs...that'll screw a lot of people up!

[dieseltaylor]

What the Pot Legalization Campaign Really Threatens: Alcohol Industry Pr

Here's a fact that even drug policy reform advocates can acknowledge: California's 2010 ballot initiative to legalize marijuana does, indeed, pose a real threat, as conservative culture warriors insist. But not to public health, as those conservatives claim.

According to most physicians, pot is less toxic -- and has more medicinal applications -- than a legal and more pervasive drug like alcohol. Whereas alcohol causes hundreds of annual overdose deaths, contributes to untold numbers of illnesses and is a major factor in violent crime, marijuana has never resulted in a fatal overdose and has not been systemically linked to major illness or violent crime.

So this ballot measure is no public health threat. If anything, it would give the millions of citizens who want to use inebriating substances a safer alternative to alcohol. Which, of course, gets to what this ballot initiative really endangers: alcohol industry profits.

That truth is underscored by news this week that the California Beer and Beverage Distributors is financing the campaign against the legalization initiative. This is the same group that bankrolled opposition to a 2008 ballot measure, which would have reduced penalties for marijuana possession.

http://www.alternet.org/story/148279/what_the_pot_legalization_campaign_really_threatens%3A_alcohol_industry_profits

[Michael Emrys]

Once again we see the dark underbelly of unrestrained capitalism.

Michael

[Stalins Organ]

Diesel actually you should probably add to the civilian count for Afghanistan, as it is more likely that some of the "Taliban" or "Anti Government elements" that get killed are civilians.

As for Mexico being destabilised by "a friendly power" - AFAIK it is not US policy to encourage the drug trade, so in what way is the US destabilising Mexico? Do you use this perjorative language because US consumers create the demand?

Arguably it works both ways of course - 22,000 Drug deaths in Mexico over 3 years? How about 17,000 deaths from illicit drug use in the USA per annum - many of htem caused by Mexican exports.

And 22,000 annual alcohol related deaths in the USA per annum.....