Thursday, December 4, 2008

Tijuana

World Focus reports that the Tijuana Police Chief has been replaced. We recently discussed the beheadings that have taken place in Mexico. Many people naturally blame the drug cartels or the corrupt police departments. In the video, Prof. Rodolfo de la Garza of Columbia University says the real problem is America's failure to address its problem of drug consumption. I guess it's hard to argue with that.


The Washington Post reports on the same story.

Tijuana's anti-corruption police chief was fired and replaced with an army officer Monday, following three days of violence that left 37 people dead in this border city plagued by warring drug gangs.

Weekend attacks included nine beheadings and the death of four children caught in shootouts. Does that make Tijuana the most dangerous city in the world? What do you think? Some people say that this type of violence only endangers people in the drug business, but apparently it's gotten so out of hand that the peripheral damage is becoming significant.

What do you make of Prof. de la Garza's claim that although there are the problems of police corruption and violent gangsters in Mexico, the real problem is in America? Why isn't something being done about that? Is it not possible to win the war on drugs? Would legalizing drugs like Switzerland be a solution?

Please feel free to comment.

9 comments:

  1. If you can afford to go to Vegas, I reckon you can afford to go look for yourself instead of relying on people like me that you deem "unreliable".

    Wear a vest and carry a sidearm.

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  2. TJ is a damn dangerous city. I suspect Johannesburg South Africa has it beat...

    And probably Sudan or Burma beat that rate of deaths....but that's "defeating political dissonants" not "Murder"

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  3. "the real problem is in America"...Handy, it absolves you of responsibility to fix it.

    It isn't possible to win the war on drugs without giving up more privacy and rights than I am willing to volunteer for. I want most drugs legalized for selfish reasons--I don't care about the addicts, I don't care if more become addicted, I won't be one of them. The drug war directly funds organized crime, gives the government more power and overall harms non-users more than legalization would.

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  4. Johannesburg is safer because of the existence of more private armed security. IMHO

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  5. I'm with Sevesteen. Legalize drugs, tax them like we do liquor.

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  6. de la Garza is exactly right that the demand for drugs in the USA is what's driving (and financing) the rot in Tijuana. and Sevesteen is exactly right about the only way we can fix that demand; prohibitionism has never worked before and won't work now.

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  7. With no drug war Mexico was a nightmare of crime and corruption. That's a fact of history.

    Ending the drug war may improve things in some places but it's not going to fix centuries of corrupt governance.

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  8. While I haven't been to Mexico in about 5 years, it remains one of my favorite countries. These drug wars certainly are a result of our failed war on drugs. A war which is really against civil liberties. There is a saying in Mexico; "So far from heaven, so close to the United States", that about sums up everything. Funny how capitalists always put aside the market whenever they talk about drugs. Without demand, there would be no supply. Peace, Jim

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  9. Jim, Thanks for coming by to comment. I looked at your site; it looks very interesting. When I have time I'll read more over there, but do you favor legalizing all drugs? Should the government control them like they do alcohol?

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