Border Violence Spurs El Paso City Council to Call for Drug Legalization

On January 1st the El Paso Times reported that the number of drug-related killings in Juarez topped 1600. There's a turf warf going on among the drug cartels and being caught in the crossfire is part of daily life for much of Mexico and certainly for Juarez.

When the death toll hit 600 writers and academics began comparing the atmosphere in the Juarez to war-torn Baghdad. The similarities became apparent again in November when a beheaded body was found hung from a bridge. The analogy is only more applicable today.

So on January 6th the El Paso City Council unanimously approved a resolution expressing support for and solidarity with the sister city in this time of crisis and, among other things, calling for "supporting an honest open national debate on ending the prohibition on narcotics."

[Alright, technically that's not calling for legalization, but rather for debate on legalization, but you get the point. A nine member body of elected officials said, "Hmmm. This really is getting out of hand. Maybe we should talk about this whole 'Drug War' thing and see if there's a more effective way to handle it."]

That's when the mayor, who uttered not a peep during discussion because "he didn't think [it] stood a chance of passing", quietly vetoed the resolution AFTER the meeting. His reason? "It is not realistic to believe that the United States Congress will seriously consider any broad based debate on the legalization of narcotics. This position is not consistent with community standards both locally and nationally."

It's called change. What a novel idea.

As you can imagine, all hell's broken loose. Relatively speaking. The council's pissed at the Mayor for playing Supreme King and Ruler. Half the city's in shock at the hippies they voted into office, the other half is ecstatic. My favorite local media outlet, NewspaperTree, has had major traffic as locals add to the debate, and the news item is slowly creeping into regional coverage as the council readies to override the veto at their next meeting. They need 6 votes to do so. The resolution passed unanimously. So, thanks for the press, Mister Mayor! There's no funding or programming behind this resolution--it was just about the open debate and discussion that's supposed to occur in a democracy--but the mayor's veto has made it more than I bet anyone council imagined it would be. I hope no one puts their balls in the political machine's purse and changes their vote on Tuesday.

Here's where I stand. Decriminalization at a minimum. Focus on rehabilitation rather than incarceration. Repurpose 'drug war' monies for funding real changes in education and infrastructure. You're 18 and you want to smoke it, shoot it, snort it? Go for it. Don't do it around me, and don't do it all the time--if drugs were legal, I would consider them in the same boat as alcohol. If you're a responsible adult, then you probably don't go to work drunk, or drive drunk, or get blind stinking drunk around your kids because you have to, you know, take care of them. The same goes for other drugs too. Oh, and if you become an addict--a known risk of addictive substances--then you should have avenues for treatment and redemption. Not necessarily because society is morally obligated to rehabilitate you, but because it's cheaper and more effective than locking you up and turning you into a hardened criminal.

Will that end the violence and solve Mexico's problems? No. Of course not. But it would be a good step in the right direction for this country and, Mexico could stop blaming its troubles on the drug war. Instead it could focus on eradicating poverty and government corruption, providing a quality education for all, and ensuring the value of a human life is the same regardless of race, creed, sex, color, religion, political affiliation, etc.

So could we. What a novel idea.