And, President Obama is facing an aggressive drug war in Mexico where more than 7,000 have been killed in the last 18 months. This would be a good opportunity for the president to point out how violence is one of the side effects of prohibiting drugs. Many cities in the U.S. have seen more prohibition-related violence then Chicago saw during alcohol prohibition. But, instead Obama is mocking the issue and calling out National Guard troops.
Militarization of the drug war on the Mexican border is something that previous presidents have tried and it has always backfired. President Nixon put in place Operation Intercept, searching one out of three cars and trucks crossing the border. The result, marijuana and heroin traffickers switched to air, sea and commerce causing a heroin and marijuana glut. President Reagan used the military to intercept boats and planes bringing marijuana into the United States. The result, traffickers switched to the more profitable and easier to smuggle cocaine causing the cocaine decade of the 1980s. President Clinton used the Marines on the border until they shot and killed a high school student in his backyard while he was herding goats for the town’s cheese co-operative.
What disaster will Obama bring by failing to confront the root cause questions: should drug prohibition continue, does the drug war work, are its costs greater than its benefits and is there a better way forward?
For More:
Nixon Tapes Reveal Twisted Roots of Marijuana Prohibition, http://www.csdp.org/news/news/nixon.htm Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, http://www.leap.cc/cms/index.php?name=Content&pid=4
Drug War Facts, www.DrugWarFacts.org
Kevin Zeese is President of Common Sense for Drug Policy,www.csdp.org.
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