Mexico, United States Share Three Violent Issues - One Potential Solution Myles Spicer - MinnPost
go to original August 7, 2013

The REAL Cost of the War on Drugs (theREALdrugfacts)

What do the drug wars in Mexico, the high incarceration rate in America and the continuing gun deaths in our country have in common? They are all fueled by one activity: the high rate of drug use by American consumers. Without that appetite, all three would be mitigated, or even eliminated to a large degree.

The recent and absurd comment by Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, regarding illegal immigrants that, “For every one who’s a valedictorian, there’s another hundred out there … hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert” was quickly condemned by his own colleagues. But it does synthesize why all three of the above issues are connected.

In Mexico, the brutality of the drug wars revolves almost exclusively around the business of providing American drug users with supplies of addictive drugs (although rarely by King’s exaggerated human mules across the desert). Eliminate or reduce the market for these drugs, and the dealers and producers would have to find another business. It is estimated that over 70,000 Mexicans have been killed and maimed in these drug wars.

Similarly, a huge percentage of the gunshot deaths in our inner cities are a result of turf wars related to drugs, too often black-on-black deaths; should the drug trade dry up, there would have to be other reasons to kill each other. That might happen, but at least one big reason would disappear.

Finally, when it comes to incarceration, it is stunning to know that the United States has the highest rate of incarceration of any country in the world. Fully 47 percent of all prisoners in federal penitentiaries are for drug-related crimes; and 21 percent in state prisons. Almost 1 percent of all American adults are incarcerated (about 2.2 million). It costs us $24,000 per prisoner per year to maintain these mostly nonviolent criminals – or about $60 billion per year.

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