Something drastic needs to be done.  Either we have the military do what mexico's government cant or refuses to do, wall up the border and control all commerical access with mexico, or make drugs legal because what we are doing now is a pathetic joke, with tens of billions spent every year with very little impact on the drug cartels, just 1.5 million arrests of american users per year and less than 15% of the imported drugs intercepted.

  Legalize drugs and you'll send several PITA countries into a depression...  But there is virtually no other way to stop the drugs and the corresponding violence and corruption they bring.  People in these countries will do virtually anything and take any risks to get wealthier and out of their poverty - I've been around them. Many have come to believe there is no other way - spurred on by others around them - especially the sight of those who've gotten rich off drugs.

 

 I've come to believe the US should allow legally sold drugs of any type to those over 21yr old, with severely increased penalities for unlicensed sales or sale to minors, allow selling drugs only in specially licensed or state stores, require buyers to sign douments acknowledging the risk,  tax the imports and sales (one of few taxes I'll ever endorse), allow only raw material imports so that drug production quality could be monitored, and require the the drugs be sold at a fixed small profit margin below that any current respectable drug dealer would ever sell them for. Have separate DUI laws for drugs, and allow testing from vehicle stops. 

 

More over, give all companies the secure right to test all employess and specify the use of certain drugs during or outside of work is a terminable offense in their employment contract. Allow insurance companies to disallow payment if an individual is in an accident under the influence of specified drugs. Allow schools to expel persons for the use of specified drugs. Disallow the use of drugs in public. Allow the removal of children from drug addicted parents.

 

Use taxes from the drugs to fund drug rehab and massive prevention campaigns in schools and media - absolutely don't let these funds go into state general funds...

 

I have no doubt it will undoubtly be cheaper to cleanup the mess from drug use than dealing with the unstoppable violence and corruption of drug trafficing. Take away the money incentive from the trafficers and they'll go away.  Doesn't anyone remember prohibition?  The mobs had to turn to drugs afterwards.

 

As for US troops in Mexico? Nope - simply put more of them on the border to prevent illegal immigration. There is no way US troops would be welcome in Mexico.

 

also, think about this:

1)--during prohibition, the homemade alcohol business lead to drinks that could kill you or blind you.  our equivalent to that (street drugs) are similarly dangerous, mixed or cut with god know's what, and if US/foreign coorporations were to be able to produce the drug under minimum USFD guidelines they would be safer and less potent.

2)--besides behavioural taxes on the products (california makes a billion a year from tobacco taxes alone) there is also the fact that the majority of the drugs would be made by coororate taxpaying/tarrif paying coorporations and the workers making the product (especially marijuana, which has legitamite medicinal value and makes better quality paper than lumber) will be US workers (jobs, tax revenue from jobs)

3)--as weird as the fact is, historical perspectives on prohibition, the initial banning of drugs in the US, and stats from countries with much more liberal drug tolerance policies show that there is a lower instance of usage and addiction when they are more accesable legally.

4)--the ramping up of the war on drugs started in the 80's has resulted in the doubling in size of the justice department (law enforcement, DA's ect), and the doubling of the inmate population in state prisons, the tripling of the federal prison population. (50% of fed prison inmates in for drugs, 25% of state prison inmates in for drugs), and a total of about 200 billion dollars spent every year (almost half that of the US armed forces yearly budget.  think of the monetary savings plus the extra coorporate/worker/taxable income that this would generate.

5)--just like how the mob lost power when prohibition ended, this would effectively castrate the south american drug cartels.