Mexico’s Drug Crusade Plagues Citizens
May 22nd, 2009 by Russ
Over the last few months, stories of the debilitating drug violence in Mexico have become commonplace in the US media. While the murders of civilians and law enforcement officers continue to climb, other casualties of this escalation are going unnoticed. As reported in the Christian Science Monitor, the government’s assault on Mexican cartels has vastly increased the availability of drugs in the country.
As major cartels are targeted by Mexican law enforcement, they have begun to fragment, causing more competition among a greater pool of lower-level dealers. When the cartel hierarchies break down, the additional competition for sales not only increases the purity of the product (be it cocaine, heroin, or methamphetamines), but also considerably decreases the price. At current rates, a gram of cocaine can be had for as little as $11, a price that is one-third that of a few decades ago.
This flooding of the market has created an entire new generation of addicts. Over the last six years, Mexico has suffered a 50% rise in addiction, towards a number approaching half a million.
Short of creating a completely facist, totalitatiran state (something well beyond the abilities of Mexican authorities) there seems to be absolutely no violence-based solution to the drug problem. In the meantime, Mexico is being laid to waste by its denial of the immutable, uncompromising laws of the drug trade.
