Objective should be to make the U.S. self-sufficient in marijuana

Here is the link to the article in the Wall Street Journal Saving Mexico

I’m not a big fan of drugs.  I’ve seen them ruin too many lives.  I’m also not a big fan of keeping drugs illegal.  That is also wrecking too many lives.  Add to that the amount of energy and resources being wasted enforcing the  criminalization  and it equals crazy.  The energy/resources could be better used elsewhere.  

We tried alcohol prohibition and that did not work. It created vast criminal enterprises.  It is the same with drugs.  I appreciate that there is a moral argument here.  However, drug and alcohol use is just not something you can legislate away.  People have been getting high since as long as we can figure.  I doubt that will change.  It is time to stop being prudish and face reality.

The article explores the effect of keeping drugs illegal is having on Mexico.  With the USA as the biggest market for drugs, we are in a large sense responsible for the mayhem.

One of my favorites lines from the article is “’Mexico’s objective should be to make the U.S. self-sufficient in marijuana,’ he added with a grin.”

By keeping drugs illegal we create the following:

In many ways, illegal drugs are the most successful Mexican multinational enterprise, employing some 450,000 Mexicans and generating about $20 billion in sales, second only behind the country’s oil industry and automotive industry exports. This year, Forbes magazine put Mexican drug lord Joaquin “Shorty” Guzman as No. 401 on the world’s list of billionaires.

Read the article and see what you think.