El Chapo and the Mexico Drug War: The Need to Legalize Drugs, Not Capture Drug Lords Juan E. Pardinas - Reforma
go to original February 24, 2014

The most iconic character of organized crime in Mexico was a synonym for a weakened state, unable to enforce the law. The arrest of Joaquin Guzman Loera is a triumph for the government of Enrique Peña Nieto, but also an historic opportunity to end an absurdity that will go down in history .

Mexican criminal elite has an efficient ability to renew its leadership. None are as emblematic as El Chapo, but the list of illustrious drug trafficking names can fill a paragraph of several lines: Caro Quintero, Fonseca Carrillo, Arellano Felix, Palma Salazar, Lazcano Lazcano, Treviño Morales, to name the most distinguished figures. If Chapo deosn't escape from jail again, his criminal career is nearing its end, but the corrupting power of drug trafficking is still there, as it was yesterday, as it was thirty years ago.

Until recently, it seemed difficult to conceive of the existence of a regulated market in legal drugs. Today, in two states of the American union, marijuana has restrictions similar to tobacco and alcohol. In 22 other U.S. states, cannabis has the same restrictions as an antibiotic or antidepressant pill. President Obama decided not to interfere with the recreational legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington. The White House could initiate a dispute before the U.S. Supreme Court, but did nothing. Its inaction is a form of permission.

... Scientific research provides us the evidence. Our northern neighbor gives us the example. Capturing El Chapo provides an opportunity to build a new strategy to address the drug problem.

Read the rest at Mexico Voices

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