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Bridgeburner
Not spiritual at all.




Registered: 09/16/06
Posts: 20,010
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Drug czar says U.S. use fueling Mexico violence
#8055043 - 02/22/08 01:47 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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http://calibre.mworld.com/m/m.w?lp=GetStory&id=294709151
American drug users are paying ruthless Mexican kingpins nearly $14 billion annually for their meth, heroin, cocaine and especially marijuana -- monies that are helping fund an unprecedented bloody turf war that's threatening Mexican institutions, the White House drug czar said.
John P. Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said marijuana, not heroin or cocaine, is the "bread and butter," "the center of gravity" for Mexican drug cartels that every year smuggle tons of it through the porous U.S.-Mexico border.
Of the $13.8 billion that Americans contributed to Mexican drug traffickers in 2004-05, about 62 percent, or $8.6 billion, comes from marijuana consumption.
These are the only figures available, because this was the first time the agency conducted a market analysis, a spokesman said.
"The ability to have people purchase arms, corrupt institutions and pay assassins is fueled by the dollars of marijuana users in the United States, which is a huge, huge part of the detonator of crime and terror you're seeing across Mexico, particularly along the U.S.-Mexico border," Mr. Walters said in a telephone interview with The Dallas Morning News from Baja California, where he's meeting with Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora.
On Thursday, federal authorities returned to a Juarez warehouse where last month they confiscated 1.7 tons of marijuana. Authorities declined to comment, but one official speaking on condition of anonymity said they were digging for possible human remains. Early Thursday, authorities began moving in heavy machinery and trained dogs.
"Like in many homes in Juarez, the speculation is that there are bodies buried there," a city official said on condition of anonymity. "But until now, nothing is confirmed."
Mr. Walters expects violence to increase in the months ahead, as powerful cartels feel squeezed and their profits threatened by President Felipe Calderon's strategy, which includes deploying more than 30,000 soldiers across the nation in an effort to dismantle the cartel's organizational structures, create internal strife and disrupt their distribution routes.
But Mr. Walters stressed that Americans, both consumers and elected leaders, need to do more to help Mexico, in part by approving the $1.4 billion Merida Initiative. That proposal, awaiting U.S. congressional approval, calls for the U.S. government to provide increased services and equipment to help Mexico take on cartels.
"Shame on us if we don't take advantage of this historic opportunity," Mr. Walter said. "There are things we can do to help as partners and ensure that we have a secure, prosperous neighbor."
Decreased demand
Drug demand in the U.S. continues to fall, Mr. Walters said, but consumer awareness about the economic ripple effects and increased potency of marijuana needs to increase, he said.
"What you are choosing to do when you consume these dead-end drugs, particularly marijuana, is you're choosing to buy the guns that kill people not just along the border, but throughout Mexico, guns that kill law enforcement authorities, civilians and threaten fundamental Mexican institutions," Mr. Walters added. "It seems not too much to ask these consumers who are making these people powerful, 'Is that something you're OK with?' "
Mr. Walter's assessment comes as Ciudad Juarez and other communities bordering Texas grapple with fierce violence.
Already, more than 300 people in Mexico have been killed this year, more than 60 in the Juarez area. The majority of those homicides are tied to drug traffickers caught in a power struggle for control of distribution corridors to such U.S. cities as Angeles and Dallas.
The Juarez region is the gateway of the so-called Golden Triangle, formed by the northern states of Sinaloa, Durango and Chihuahua, which account for most of the marijuana cultivation, according to U.S. and Mexican drug enforcement officials.
Caught in crossfire
Over the last two years, more than 5,000 people have been killed throughout Mexico. Decapitations have become common, as well as disseminating videos documenting gruesome deaths, including "narco messages" to threaten rivals, the government and terrorize U.S. and Mexican citizens. The spillover of violence continues, as well as pervasive corruption on both sides of the border.
Increasingly, civilians have been caught in the crossfire, as in a recent shooting here over a busy weekend when an elderly woman was injured during a shootout and two suspected drug traffickers were killed.
Earlier in the week, Mr. Calderon, speaking in Monterrey, said that the country has "suffered losses," but "that's because we're confronting organized crime like never before. ... If you see dust fly, it's because we're hard at work, cleaning our house."
Mr. Walters praised Mr. Calderon and said, "We all need to come to grips that American consumers are funding this violence. We share responsibility, and we need to do more to help."
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero



Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
Loc: Caribbean
Last seen: 2 months, 20 days
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Re: Drug czar says U.S. use fueling Mexico violence [Re: Bridgeburner]
#8055120 - 02/22/08 03:03 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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> Drug czar says U.S. use fueling Mexico violence
Seuss czar says U.S. antidrug policies are fueling Mexico violence
> American drug users are paying ruthless Mexican kingpins nearly $14 billion annually for their meth, heroin, cocaine and especially marijuana -- monies that ...
... would stay in the US were drugs legal.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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Chemy
Jesus is Lord

Registered: 10/05/07
Posts: 6,276
Loc: A Church
Last seen: 14 years, 1 month
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Re: Drug czar says U.S. use fueling Mexico violence *DELETED* [Re: Seuss]
#8055186 - 02/22/08 04:26 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Post deleted by ChemyReason for deletion: Reason for deleting?
-------------------- Alcoholics Anonymous Narcotics Anonymous Get help, help is free and available 24/7/365. God bless you all and I hope you receive the help you need to turn away from your lives of sin. Mushrooms and drugs make you gay, you can reverse this homosexual condition with rehab, get help! Stop being gay!
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ultimo101
Mushroomhead

Registered: 05/12/06
Posts: 676
Last seen: 13 years, 5 months
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Re: Drug czar says U.S. use fueling Mexico violence [Re: Chemy]
#8055405 - 02/22/08 07:52 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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ahahahaha
hypocrisy almost..
actually I think its just stupidity. Im sorry guys but your country is run by fucking simpletons
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t00th
something terrible

Registered: 12/03/07
Posts: 3,946
Loc: the dirty dirty
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Re: Drug czar says U.S. use fueling Mexico violence [Re: ultimo101]
#8055676 - 02/22/08 09:44 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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i agree... it makes me sick
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HighHat
Repeat Gold Medal eBay -TiVoist



Registered: 01/24/08
Posts: 303
Loc: Delocated
Last seen: 13 years, 11 months
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Re: Drug czar says U.S. use fueling Mexico violence [Re: t00th]
#8056595 - 02/22/08 01:54 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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So it OUR fault. We drug users who like to light a spliff to enjoy with friends. Not the do-rights that refuse to hear any scientific findings that their way is not only not working and based off fairy tales, but making things worse for everyone (other countries too).
If the government really wanted to help Mexico, they would tax and regulate. All this time that they have been employing the "cut off the head and the body will fail" strategy to deal with organized crime, they've been swinging at the wrong body parts. If they really wanted to "cut off the head" they would end prohibition.
-------------------- Have you ever felt like you were wearing a hat, but you weren't? "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety" -Letter from the Pennsylvania Assembly, November 11, 1755 This profile is strictly for role-playing. Any alleged association with illegal activities is purely fictional. Any images depicting illegal activities are photo-shopped or stolen.
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kindadank
Stranger


Registered: 07/14/03
Posts: 702
Last seen: 13 years, 11 months
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Re: Drug czar says U.S. use fueling Mexico violence [Re: HighHat]
#8056633 - 02/22/08 02:08 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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You've heard it from the drug czar folks, DON'T SMOKE SCHWAG!
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andrewss
precariously aggrandized


Registered: 08/17/07
Posts: 8,725
Loc: ohio
Last seen: 1 month, 13 days
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Re: Drug czar says U.S. use fueling Mexico violence [Re: kindadank]
#8056811 - 02/22/08 02:49 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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hahaha, I love how much propaganda that "czar" spews out. I say they re air the supporting terrorists commercial hahaha
-------------------- Jesus loves you.
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NineStorms
The Dragon



Registered: 02/28/07
Posts: 125
Loc: Existing between Heaven a...
Last seen: 9 years, 7 months
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Re: Drug czar says U.S. use fueling Mexico violence [Re: andrewss]
#8057083 - 02/22/08 03:43 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Some people are so damn twisted. Legalize it, tax it, educate! Then California can produce all the herb needed for the entire nation, organized crime dies, and we Calis get rid of our state debt. LOL.
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