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February 13, 2007
The Scandal Brews...
by Jack Lee
Our Libertarian friend and writer, Jeff, has made some interesting points about the drug war and our failed policies and I can't really disagree with him, but perhaps I can ad a new perspective...as an insider. I was a drug warrior in combat for many years.
Our drug enforcement system is seriously broken and it is most broken on our border with Mexico where the illegal drugs flow into the USA freely. What we are doing and have been doing for years is so outrageously expensive and ineffective, it is an abomination on the integrity of the White House and Congress who have long known the seriousness of this situation and the many failures along the way.
Currently up to 96% of all drug shipments make it across the Mexican border. That's not my statistic, this comes from the agency that I was trained by and worked with, the DEA! This is the unpublished, confidential statistic for in house use only. But, don't fault the DEA, Border Patrol or Customs or the many narcotic task forces...the deck is stacked against them, so much so that they can't make a dent in this problem no matter how hard they try.
Blame Congress and the President, because that is truly where the blame belongs. And Congress and the Presidents for well over 30 years have known about this growing threat and they have repeated failed to do their duty to fix it to any sense of managable level!
What good Libertarian (or what good citizen period) would not agree it is the duty of the federal government to secure and protect our borders? And it long past time that we all asked why NOT?
If there were only 3 things important to preserving the nation, control over our borders must be one of them.
Once these illegal drugs enter this country via our open border the damage begins and it spreads like wildfire. The average shipment of cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, meth, etc., usually gets stepped on (cut, diluted and resold) anywhere from 5 to 8 times before it reaches the end user. How many times it stepped on depends on the drug and the original purity. That means there is a lot of hands that touch that drug shipment and each hand takes a chunk of profit.
That one shipment becomes part of in a massive distribution system involving all sorts of crime and tons of untaxed, illegal money. Once the drug shipment is into the USA it's almost impossible to stop simply because of the mass logistics it requires to track down on the distributors at all sorts of levels. But, IF WE CAN stop one shipment at the border, WE CAN can stop thousands of people from being involved in illegal selling and using and all that goes along with it.
Now consider that substance abuse is not just substance abuse where what one person does is his own business. Because it's never about one person's choice to use illegal drugs and just abuse their own body. People outside the drug world never really stop to think about the other included people in the drug abuse scene because its perhaps to abstract unless you really know the problem up close and personal.
Drug use and drug trafficking can easily involve any number of crimes and organizations, like prostitution, rape, murder, arson, armed robbery, stolen property, burglary, spousal abuse, child endangerment, child abuse...you name the crime and I can find you somebody involved in substance abuse that committed it. Drugs are the one BIG COMMON denominator underlying crime in America and if you don't believe that you are out of touch with druggies and all their associated crimes that exist in this underworld.
These are facts and its one sick, sick situation that Congress and the President have avoided and yet they clearly have the sworn duty and the ability to greatly diminish this importation of illegal drugs across an open border, but they have failed to act in any meaningful way for decades.
Having secure border means the direct savings cost to the American society in terms of medical care, psychiatric care, prison costs, enforcement and investigation costs, court costs, law suits, accidents, lost work hours, low productivity, broken families, child endangerment,counseling, birth defects, unwanted pregnancies, lost income and so much more... would more than justify the spending to finally secure our border with Mexico!
My personal guess is the comparative cost, border v crime, would justify this move many times over, not to mention the value to national security in our fight against terrorism.
These are the very serious issues when you have an open border: Unchecked illegal human migration, Illegal narcotic shipments and the corruption it spreads, organized crime involvement, national security risks and terrorism, massive drains on various segments of the economy, generalized influence on rising crime and you also have; American families/children more at risk; Rising medical costs; Lower educational and economic output; Increased abortions, tax frauds, and out-of-wedlock child births and the drain this places on society and there are many more I could name...
If these issues don't mean enough for our Congress and the President to take firm action, what issues do?
How serious or competent can they be about anything that threatens the American population, if they can't even address these issues right in front of their face?
It's an outrage, it's an absolute national scandal of the highest order and its about time you people woke up, got mad and demanded these incompetent, overpaid fatcats in Congress do their job!
Posted by Post Scripts at February 13, 2007 10:00 AM
Comments
Jack your observations are right on. As congress busies itself covering butt on the war for the next election cycle, none of us out here can afford to hold our collective breath on the issues of the border and drugs. I'll leave the drug enforcement issue to you who are expert.
I know that 911 shifted the focus in many ways and made some issues come forward with even more emphasis and necessity. The border certainly is a big part of that. The need to concentrate energies and attention on issues in Iraq have, no doubt, preoccupied the president in ways he didn't expect. Words don't get it done unless they are followed by continuing actions until the desired result is achieved.
Unfortunately the drug problem is, I believe, a societal problem first and foremost. I'm not sure anything but thankless tail chasing can be done unless we can change the culture. If the market goes away so will the need for law enforcement. Changing our society will take a concerted effort over many years but it is the heart of the problem. Our president agrees:
Here are a few quotes from the National Red Ribbon Week for a Drug-Free America Proclamation by GWB:
Through the efforts of families, law enforcement officers, healthcare professionals, teachers, and dedicated community activists, we have made progress in the ongoing war against substance abuse. To continue this progress, my Administration is implementing a comprehensive, results-oriented strategy for reducing illegal drug use in America. We will work cooperatively with other nations to help eradicate illegal drugs at their source. We will increase border security to stop the flow of these drugs into America. And we will provide Federal support to local law enforcement agencies in combating drug trafficking networks.
The most effective way, however, to reduce the cycle of youth drug addiction and the crime it causes is to reduce demand. This effort begins at home; and it depends upon the active participation of families, schools, and community organizations in education and outreach programs that clearly communicate to children the dangers inherent in drug and alcohol abuse.
Addictions are what fills the space when real satisfaction has illuded us...and when we see no hope for a different outcome. Addiction has been "treated" for the past 40-50 years in many ways, but one thing that needs to change is the focus on self esteem. We have been looking at "self" to such a narcissistic degree that we have forgotten how to put our attentions on giving and participation. The "me" generation needs to start asking "what you can do for your country"...or your family, or neighbor, or child, or boss, or employee, or....and we need to honor a higher power, even if we only think of it as the universe!
Posted by: Tina at February 13, 2007 09:05 PM