
The Fall of Mexico  - cwan
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/12/the-fall-of-mexico/7760/
======
rfreytag
Please legalize all drugs while banning all middlemen with prior convictions
and requiring they be US-made.

Portugal has shown legalization actually reduces both crime and drug abuse:
[http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2009/03/14...](http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2009/03/14/portugal)

Plus we will no longer be funding political instability the world over with
the money of addicts. Better yet we can tax and treat the addicted.

~~~
armandososa
The downside is this: after the so-called war on drugs has Mexico has seen an
increase in muggery, abduction and extortion. There is a whole _criminal
working class_ whose way of living is crime and have no respect for human
life. So, if legalization ends the drug traffic _business_ , this people will
have to either learn to work honestly or find more creative ways to profit
from crimes.

The truth is: Mexico is screwed.

It's sad because I live here and I love my city and some aspects of México,
but I don't want to live here anymore. As soon as I get married I'm going to
fly away.

~~~
oldgregg
Man that's sad, but I think you're right. This article is scary. In the US
we're naive if we think that's a very tall fence down there.

~~~
armandososa
What? It is all your fault! You are the freaking consumers! We have the
misfortune to be the obliged way for Colombian drug dealers to pass the drug
to USA, where the rich dumbasses drug-addicts live and are willing to pay.

Now you are going to take the moral high-ground here and say "eew! make that
fence taller!"?

~~~
jorgecastillo
This is not just caused because of the USA. We also have addicts that increase
the demand for drugs in Mexico. No one is putting a gun in the head of this
people to become drug traffickers. People in Mexico are poor but I don't see
anyone that is not a drug trafficker dying of hunger because they don't have
money. This people just like the easy live they can get by becoming drug
traffickers.

This criminal culture in Mexico is a very complex issue and it's not like it
can be magically fixed if the USA and Mexico legalize drugs. To fix this we
need to make profound changes in all aspects of our culture & society and it
will take time if it ever happens.

I believe in sovereignty. The USA can do whatever it wants in its territory
same as China(Google respect local laws or GTFO) same as Mexico.

------
mark_l_watson
I have a friend who is a retired Scotland Yard detective and he has an
interesting take on the US war on drugs: we effectively put hundreds of
billions of dolars a year into the hands of organized crime, and the
possibility that there are payoffs to the US Congress to keep this money flow
going is a real possibility.

~~~
jackfoxy
When that kind of money is involved, it's impossible not to have affected the
highest levels of the legislature, executive, and judiciary. I believe there
have already been documented cases of folks with dubious affiliations
funneling money to various PACs. That has to be just the tip of the iceberg.

~~~
abecedarius
Suggestive: the bailout and drug money.
[http://www.correntewire.com/was_bailout_largest_drug_money_l...](http://www.correntewire.com/was_bailout_largest_drug_money_laundering_operation_history)

(I originally saw this story at some less-biased site, but this is what Google
brought up.)

