Sunday, May 23, 2010

So, President Calderon of Mexico, What About Mexico's Soaring Drug Addiction Problem?

President Calderon's arguments and lecturing Congress about our country's drug problems and the related crime are nonsense (just as his criticism is of our immigration laws while Mexico's laws are MUCH more stringent). He keeps telling us that his country as a source of drugs and the cartel violence problem in his country (due to availability of assault weapons from the USA) are OUR fault. He says it's we in the USA who need to fix both problems, not Mexico. His arguments are completely lacking in logic and, for that matter, truth.

For example, if he's such an expert on what creates demand for drugs, how is it that Mexico has a very serious drug problem of its own that has been 'soaring' since 2001 according to USA Today? (New patients at drug treatment centers quadrupled between 2001 and 2007.) If it's so easy to stop/control the demand for drugs why haven't you done it Mr. Calderon? Nevertheless, Mr. Calderon, we ARE doing things to stop the demand from your country.

In fact, your own experts say that's precisely why your country's drug addiction problems are getting worse. According to USA Today (7/22/2008), "The new border fence and intensified patrols by both Mexican and U.S. federal agents have made it harder for Mexican cartels to get drugs into the USA. As a result, more narcotics remain in Mexico where they are sold to local consumers, says Marcela López Cabrera, director of the Monte Fenix clinic in Mexico City, which trains drug counselors." Mr. Calderon, please note that your OWN experts are saying that!

By the way, guess when we in the USA began restricting drugs such that Mexico's cartels had to start looking for customers in Mexico? It began early in Bush's first term. A lot of liberals who like to blame Republicans (especially Bush) for everything aren't going to like that statistic any more than others I've blogged about.

A quote in that same USA Today article is interesting regarding the addictiveness of marijuana: "Carlos Antonio López started using crack at age 11 to kill the pain of his mother's death.
"I started with marijuana, but after a while it didn't fill me up anymore," he says. "Then I started on crack. You get obsessed, you can't think about anything else." " There's another fact that flies in the face of arguments for legalized drugs and medical marijuana.

President Calderon just got done lecturing us ... again ... (this time as a 'guest' IN Congress!) about assault weapons being sold in our country that find their way to his. There are legitimate arguments for banning the sale of assault weapons here but, c'mon, do you actually expect us to believe that your cartels won't be able to find equally nasty and effective weapons from some other country? If we ban assault weapons, your cartels will magically be unable to get the arms they seek, right? No other country on the planet makes such weapons and they wouldn't sell them to your cartels even if they did, right? Am I the only one who thinks that's a completely irrational and even ignorant argument?

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