Posted on 02/24/2005 8:14:49 AM PST by tomball
Former Mexican soldiers, police and federal agents, originally trained as an elite force of anti-drug commandos, are working as mercenaries for Mexican narcotics traffickers, bringing a new wave of drug-related killings into the United States, authorities said.
Law-enforcement and intelligence officials said the well-armed gang, known as the "Zetas," is linked to hundreds of killings and dozens of kidnappings on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, particularly over a wide area of southeastern Texas from Laredo to Brownsville and in cities throughout Mexico.
In protecting established drug corridors into the United States, gang leaders have targeted U.S. Border Patrol agents and state and local police, authorities said, along with Mexican military and law-enforcement personnel, even offering bounties of up to $50,000.U.S. intelligence officials said the Zetas might have obtained Soviet-made SA-7 shoulder-mounted missile launchers off the black market, although information on the purchase is sketchy. The Bush administration has been concerned in recent weeks about the fate of Soviet-provided SA-7s in Nicaragua, about 80 of which have not been accounted for by the government and are thought to have been sold on the black market.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
You haven't seen any alcoholics?
I don't believe it's possible to have a federal war on drugs that's both effective and respectful of the Constitution.
I largely agree...I think one of the fundamental operational changes that needs to be made is decentralization of the effort to the state and local levels.
And states or localities that wanted to legalize some or all drugs could do so?
I don't see why not...I don't have, nor do I pretend tlo have all the answers. I do know the current WOD is a failure and we continue to invest exorbitant amounts of money in it, and receive compounded failure on our investment.
Drug usage is not a "victimless" crime, and a society / community has a right to protect itself (and by extension, the individual rights and liberties of its citizens) from the disruption it causes. What is the answer...It's got to be something different from what is being done now where it is hard to distinguish which is worse, the disease or the cure...
I do believe that an altered strategy should include limited legalization (and taxation) based on community / state standards, elimination of property / asset forfeiture laws enacted in the name of WOD, and harsher sentencing guidelines not for "drug crimes" per se, but for other crimes committed while under the influence or arising from other drug related activity.
I am a lover of history and there are many parallels between prohibition and the WOD, and some are just too blind to see history repeating itself in front of our eyes. There are also some fundamental differences between alcohol and *street* drugs and those differences need to be taken into consideration as well....
Oh yeah seen plenty of them , so now we are equating drugs with alcohol? Both are a crutch for the weak. But alcohol although it is addictive is nothing like the hold drugs get on you. I know many alcoholics , but I dont know too many of them who would steal from their family to get high. Not too many die from overdose either,although it has happened.
Also just because we have one bad drug 9alcohol)that is legal why compound it by legalising more.
Three words. MILITARIZE THE BORDER
Who are the "victims" of drug use itself, as opposed to those other crimes?
There are also some fundamental differences between alcohol and *street* drugs
Such as?
Alcohol is more addictive than marijuana, or many if not all of the hallucinogens.
I know many alcoholics , but I dont know too many of them who would steal from their family to get high.
That has more to do with the low price of the legal drug than with inherent biochemical properties.
Also just because we have one bad drug 9alcohol)that is legal why compound it by legalising more.
Why not lessen the problem by banning alcohol? Because we learned that the cure of criminalization was worse than the disease.
The family members and loved ones of those that become addicted.
"Such as?" Cultural acceptance and its role(s) as a unifying theme in the mythology of western civilization. Alcohol usage, in moderation for the non-alcoholic has many health benefits illicit drugs tend not to have (I'll conced the point on medical marijuana). Likewise, alcohol does have nutritional value and as such, plays a role in social bonding be it at the family dinner, wedding reception etc.
Man if you like drugs by all means use them. Dont try to convince me they should be made legal I see whats happened at Needle park
http://opioids.com/switzerland/needle-park.html
Ditto for alcohol.
Cultural acceptance and its role(s) as a unifying theme in the mythology of western civilization.
None of which does a lick of good for the many overindulgers.
Alcohol usage, in moderation for the non-alcoholic has many health benefits illicit drugs tend not to have (I'll conced the point on medical marijuana).
A minor distinction, given how little of the alcohol consumed each year is consumed for health reasons.
Likewise, alcohol does have nutritional value
Only in the sense that it has calories ... empty ones.
and as such, plays a role in social bonding be it at the family dinner, wedding reception etc.
I don't think alcohol's caloric content has much to do with its role in social bonding, nor do I agree that other drugs play no role in social bonding.
What do you conclude from these minor differences between alcohol and other drugs?
Man if you like drugs by all means use them.
I don't like them and I don't use them; I just know that criminalizing them has done more harm than good.
Dont try to convince me they should be made legal I see whats happened at Needle park
I don't advocate legalizing them only in a small area, any more than I'd support alcohol being legal only in a small area.
Lets go back and look at your points.
Alcohol is more addictive than Marijuana. Who actually gives a damn about marijuana drugs that I refer to Cocaine, Heroin Crystal Meth , PCP, Ecstasy, Etc, Etc,these are the killers Marijuana is a recreational drug that may or may not be addictive, that at its best may have some medical value , at its worst causes cancer like cigarettes.
And here we are trying to make drugs legal and cigarettes illegal , the same argument you use in support of drugs Vs. alcohol.
Your argument that if we legalise drugs we lower the price, That would be fine , it would also increase the amount of people using them. Families now have a husband that comes home drunk once and a while maybe even gets abusive. You aint seen abusive till you have seen a person on PCP go off.Nothing like seeing dad get drunk at the kitchen table. How about watching Mom and Dad shoot up heroin at the table, Nice for the kids huh, ? and who caresfor these kids while they are floating.?
You say Needle park isa small area and indeed it is, why just have junkies in needle park . Lets have them spread all over the city.
I dont use alcohol but I know a lot of people who do and most of them control it just fine and drink socially, yes you may smoke a little pot socially, pot is the drug most often used in arguments about drugs.Personally if it was up to me pot would be legal , its just small potatoes, I have never seen heroin used socially except in crack houses , I have seen cocaine used socially by losers who use to get a piece of ass.Ecstasy the same. Although I hear the homo's use it mixed with Viagra and have what is for them some great orgies.
Yes legalising drugs would allow more police to work on other things , but you would offset that by needing more ambulances to deal with the overdoses and more social services agencies to deal with abandoned kids and broken homes. Legalising drugs would mean a lot more space in the jails, offset that by needing a lot more space in hospitals., and a lot less productivity on the job. Nothing like working with spaced out junkies.Especially spaced out police officer junkies. Yes if drugs were legal cops could use them too.
For example, people who smoke tend to have more colds, that last longer forcing them to call in sick more. They also are costing us lost productivity by taking smoking breaks very often to feed their habits.
I am not an anti smoking nut, and think people should smoke if they want to, but let's not pretend that nicotine and alcohol don't cost a ton of money in health, insurance and productivity costs.
Bad argument. Alcohol is legal. Cops are not allowed to show up to work drunk. Drugs could be decriminalized, but not sanctified. For example, they wouldn't bust you for using drugs, but your employer could. You could snort all the coke you wanted, but to keep your job, your employer would still make you pee in a cup.
The effect of this would be lower crime. All the street gangs who finance themselves with drug sales would lose their major revenue source. The addicts who burglarize in order to finance their habits, would be in the same boat as cigarette addicts now, who can afford their drug without stealing my stereo.
Tax the product, and put the funds into treatment. Those who use finance their own treatment this way.
Well enough of this we wont make any converts here Keep your pipe dream.
No wonder they think we're gutless pushovers. As a nation, we are. Scared s--tless for worrying about being called judgmental, xenophobic, etc.
I'd bet that even when there's a big shootout north of the border with these narco-terrorists with loss of lives, the Administration & HS Dept. will tell us it's OK, don't worry because it's not connected to ME terrorists. Pathetic.
Pot, perhaps. But can you show me a person whose primary reason for not using heroin or crack is the cost? I know I wouldn't use either if I was paid to do so; would you?
and who caresfor these kids while they are floating.?
Who cares for them when mom and dad are drunk? It's a terrible situation, but we rightly see it as insufficient to justify banning alcohol.
You say Needle park isa small area and indeed it is, why just have junkies in needle park . Lets have them spread all over the city.
That's where they are now, and IMO it's better than concentrating such people in a small area.
Personally if it was up to me pot would be legal , its just small potatoes
I agree.
I have seen cocaine used socially by losers who use to get a piece of ass.Ecstasy the same.
Alcohol the same.
Yes legalising drugs would allow more police to work on other things , but you would offset that by needing more ambulances to deal with the overdoses and more social services agencies to deal with abandoned kids and broken homes. Legalising drugs would mean a lot more space in the jails, offset that by needing a lot more space in hospitals., and a lot less productivity on the job.
You seem to think that tens of millions of Americans are just itching to use hard drugs, with only the law standing in their way. I don't believe that for a second.
Nothing like working with spaced out junkies.Especially spaced out police officer junkies. Yes if drugs were legal cops could use them too.
But they can't come to work drunk, and couldn't stoned.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.