And we wonder why people risk their lives to cross the border into the U.S.

Peter, if our drug laws were different, the narcoterrorism might not be happening.

True, but so what? It doesn’t change the reality that people cross the border illegally because they are escaping poverty, crime, corrupt institutions, etc.

Bob,
If more Americans would head the voice of Ms. Nancy Reagan and just say no to drugs, then the narcoterrorism wouldn’t be happening, either. We create the demand and then piously deplore the evils of the supply chain, just like the men of the Victorien era did with the white-slave trade.
I despise most things about the Reagan Administration, particularly their Cold War hawkish foreign policy and their economic and environmental policies, but on a few things they did have it right, and one of them was to place more emphasis on the idea that drugs are, you know, a bad thing.

Sadly, the Maciel scandal has resonated in Mexico more than anywhere else. This, I suspect, deprives the Church of much of the moral authority needed to address credibly the corruption in Mexican civil society. The Maciel fall-out will play out for decades.
As one who works with Mexican immigrants, it seems that alcoholism, teen pregnancies, and physical abuse of women are also severe and pervasive problems. In Mexican villages, having a “doce” before getting behind the wheel of a car is a deadly and honored traditions. This custom does not translate well when brought to our interstates. Again, a Church that produces and protects a Maciel will have a hard time finding its voice.

True, but so what? It doesn’t change the reality that people cross the border illegally because they are escaping poverty, crime, corrupt institutions, etc.
or the reality that they are escaping into….poverty, crime, corrupt institutions, etc.
We are on the same road that Mexico travels! Only a few exits behind!

This was a very honest and, for that reason, very beautiful letter. Its tone reminded me a bit of Pope Benedict’s: there is the same willingness to acknowledge difficulties and weaknesses, not by underemphasizing or overemphasizing them, but by being honest about them. There is also the same emphasis on holiness and trust in God as the only real solution to these problems.

“but on a few things they did have it right, and one of them was to place more emphasis on the idea that drugs are, you know, a bad thing.”
but that’s a bit myopic, don’t you think? you can’t lump all drugs together. some are more dangerous than others (like how alcohol is more dangerous than marijuana), some are less legal than others (like how marijuana is less legal than alcohol).
i mean, we even have the esteemed Mr. Dreher writing multiple posts on how difficult it is to procure his drug of choice in his new state. to simply say that “drugs are, you know, a bad thing” is dangerously close to ignorance on the subject.

And yet this country does not have the will to secure its borders. Does anyone think that Mexican narcoterrorists with their satanic religion are not itching to set up shop in a big way on this side of the border? If the corrupt Mexican state collapses and is replaced with an even worse government, we could have a Somalia or Afghanistan or Bosnia right on our porous border. But both political parties can see the demographic trends and wouldn’t want to do or say anything (like securing our sovereign border) to annoy any Hispanic residents–legal or illegal–here. The reconquista is real, folks. Short of a political sea change here, it is a fait accompli–La Santa Muerte and all.
(Disclaimer: Yes, most immigrants from south of the border just want jobs and a better life. I don’t blame them. But not securing our borders and not enforcing our laws ALSO lets in some of the most dangerous elements on the planet, and THAT’S the point of my post. If you want the USA to turn into Mexico with all that is entailed by that, then let’s just maintain the status quo.)

Allowing them to illegally cross the border does not solve their cultural problems or help ours. Instead of travelling here and pointing fingers Calderon should be finding ways to resolve the drug issues in his country, unless of course, he is on the take. The quality of the church in mexico is irrelevant to the issue of Santa Muerte. Like Santerra, it thrives because it appeals to people’s darker nature and evokes elements of pre-christian worship.

We are on the same road that Mexico travels! Only a few exits behind!
That’s absurd.

I think it’s absurd to tell Calderon to fix the drug issues in his country when we caused them. Only after we started a “war on drugs” did Mexico find itself embroiled in… a drug war! I know I’m breaking the correlation/causation rule here, but I’m astounded that so many don’t even consider that maybe, just maybe, our drug policies have an effect outside our own borders.

Twenty years ago I went on vacation to Mexico. I was stopped by the local police for “speeding” and had to pay a bribe within yards of the point where I picked up a rental car.
I swore I would never visit that God forsaken place again, and since then I have watched Canadians murdered in the hotels and assorted criminal activity at the expense of tourists.
A good decision then, and getting better every day.

So…..we have the same degree of a problem with Canada? I think not.

That comment was not directed at Michael’s post BTW.

Robert,
Canada isn’t exactly the most environmentally hospitable place to drug farming. And it’s not like the drug problem in Mexico stems mostly from drugs grown in Mexico either.

Saint Andeol,
I agree with you about marijuana, and I think that it should be legalised. That said, while it’s still illegal, people who use it are potentially putting money into the hands of the Mexican drug lords, among other nasty people. And I feel quite firmly that the hard drugs (cocaine, heroin, meth) ought to stay illegal.

Thank you. You make my point.

Robert,
In the Western hemisphere, the best places to grow drugs are all south of the US, and therefore the best land route to get those drugs into the US is through Mexico. Nothing but basic botany, geography and transportation logistics at work here. Sorry such simple things are lost on you. I could get into supply and demand (particularly the high demand of the highly populous California) but that seems a bit too advanced of a topic.

“In the Western hemisphere, the best places to grow drugs are all south of the US,”
True of coca and opium poppies, perhaps, but the best marijuana is grown in the US, and a significant percentage of the reefer consumed in this country is grown here.

Some of the world’s best cannabis is grown in British Columbia.
If the US’s influence were the cause of societal corruption and disintegration, Canada would not only be as bad as Mexico but even worse; we have far more connections with Canada and most Canadians live within 125 miles of the US border, making our influence on them much stronger.
Mexico and Latin America were colonized by the wrong people, for the wrong reasons, at the wrong time, with the wrong values.
People bitch about “Puritan America”, but where would you rather live, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire or Connecticut-or Jalisco, Chihuahua, or Vera Cruz?
People are just trying to keep some feeling that their culture and lifestyle has some value. Pitiful.

Bob
British Columbia’s largest export to the USA is Marijuana.
BC bud is the best…….so I am told

Gus & Nixon, Micael,
And of course there’s no Mexican drug war over US-grown cannabis (or cannabis at all), now is there? What is your point? What kind of people seriously think marijuana is equivalent to cocaine?

Hector, so you despised all of the things Reagan did that history has proven him to be correct on? Wierd planet you must live on.

Let’s set marijuana to the side here. As other posyers point out a great deal of it is grown domestically, or in Canada. It’s basically a weed (duh) and can be grown almost anywhere the climate is not downright hostile to plant life. Also, I doubt the drug cartels are getting rich off pot. They may trade in it as a sideline, but cocaine and meth are where the big bucks are.

It’s not true that Mexican weed is a sideline. The Mexican marijuana trade may be lower in quality than Canadian bud, and costs less per pound, but it’s much higher in volume and it tends to dominate the much larger lower and middle markets. Even worse, Mexican gangs have begun growing weed in the US to avoid the problems of border smuggling, and have been wrecking havoc in national parks and forests. There’s a huge difference between these Mexican weed growers and traffickers and either their Canadian brethren or the homegrown market.

LoL back to the original proposition, if that is not lost on some.