completely disagree with luddite and swatantra

the war on drugs is lost

i could not agree with you more chris.and as you say linked to drugs is prostitution and high levels of crime that blight alot of citys in the uk,you will never stop people taking drugs so the alternative must be regulation to put the drug lords out of business forever.

For those of you who are still living in some strange parallel universe, one where prohibition actually works, here is part of the testimony of Judge Alfred J Talley, given before the Senate Hearings of 1926:

"For the first time in our history, full faith and confidence in and respect for the hitherto sacred Constitution of the United States has been weakened and impaired because this terrifying invasion of natural rights has been engrafted upon the fundamental law of our land, and experience has shown that it is being wantonly and derisively violated in every State, city, and hamlet in the country."

"It has made potential drunkards of the youth of the land, not because intoxicating liquor appeals to their taste or disposition, but because it is a forbidden thing, and because it is forbidden makes an irresistible appeal to the unformed and immature. It has brought into our midst the intemperate woman, the most fearsome and menacing thing for the future of our national life."

"It has brought the sickening slime of corruption, dishonor, and disgrace into every group of employees and officials in city, State, and Federal departments that have been charged with the enforcement of this odious law."

http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/HISTORY/e1920/senj1926/judgetalley.htm

And the following paragraphs are from WALTER E. EDGE's testimony, a Senator from New Jersey:

"Any law that brings in its wake such wide corruption in the public service, increased alcoholic insanity, and deaths, increased arrests for drunkenness, home barrooms, and development among young boys and young women of the use of the flask never heard of before prohibition can not be successfully defended."

"I unhesitatingly contend that those who recognize existing evils and sincerely endeavor to correct them are contributing more toward temperance than those who stubbornly refuse to admit the facts."

"The opposition always proceeds on the theory that give them time and they will stop the habit of indulging in intoxicating beverages. This can not be accomplished. We should recognize our problem is not to persist in the impossible, but to recognize a situation and bring about common-sense temperance through reason."

"This is not a campaign to bring back intoxicating liquor, as is so often claimed by the fanatical dry. Intoxicating liquor is with us to-day and practically as accessible as it ever was. The difference mainly because of its illegality, is its greater destructive power, as evidenced on every hand. The sincere advocates of prohibition welcome efforts for real temperance rather than a continuation of the present bluff."

http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/HISTORY/e1920/senj1926/walteredge.htm

And here is Julien Codman's testimony, who was a member of the Massachusetts bar.

"we will produce additional evidence on this point, that it is not appropriate legislation to enforce the eighteenth amendment; that it has done incredible harm instead of good; that as a temperance measure it has been a pitiable failure; that it as failed to prevent drinking; that it has failed to decrease crime; that, as a matter of fact, it has increased both; that it has promoted bootlegging and smuggling to an extent never known before"

"We believe that the time has come for definite action, but it is impossible to lay before Congress any one bill which, while clearly within the provisions of the Constitution, will be a panacea for the evils that the Volstead Act has caused. We must not be vain enough to believe, as the prohibitionists do, that the age-old question of the regulation of alcohol can be settled forever by the passage of a single law. With the experience of the Volstead law as a warning, it behooves us to proceed with caution, one step at a time, to climb out of the legislative well into which we have been pushed."

"If you gentlemen are satisfied, after hearing the evidence supplemented by the broad general knowledge which each of you already possesses, that the remedy that will tend most quickly to correct the wretched social conditions that now exist, to promote temperance, find to allay the discontent and unrest that the Volstead Act has caused, is to be found in the passage of one of the proposed bills legalizing the production of beer of an alcoholic content of 4 per cent or less. We do not claim that it will do away with all the evils produced by attempted prohibition, but it would be a step in the right direction."

http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/HISTORY/e1920/senj1926/codman.htm

untill when all of you are going to get it the main problem is the goverment. the are the real mob mexico needs another revolution, mexicans stop being conformists, fight and fight, but not against the narco or among you,figth against the goverment till dead

"By supporting drugs they are supporting the crime syndicates that control the drug trade"

I would argue that by supporting prohibition you are supporting the crime syndicates. How else can people charge the amount they do for a weed? How else is heroin worth more than it's weight in gold?

It's prohibition that drives up prices, profit margins, and because it's illegal, disputes over control of those profits are resolved with guns, not lawyers.

whats going on in mexico is like some kind of nightmare saw or hostel movie and worse,but if the might of the mexican miltary cant defeat these drug cartels what will.

Swatantra Nandanwar, agree 1000%. Drugs destroy lives, and in Mexico's case destroys whole countries. The savagery committed by the drug gangs is truly shocking, and ordinary Mexicans have to live with this, day in day out.

Duncan - saying that Tijuana is "practically run by drug cartels" might give a false impression, especially for anyone that has been to this city of 1.7 million people recently. My office is located 3 blocks from the border crossing (Otay Mesa) and I'm in Tijuana 1-2 times per week -- and while it's easy to over-state things based on two years of negative media accounts, it's better to give accurate information. Tijuana is far from "lost" - as a visit to the City can attest, filled with culture, industry, and great food. While the fight against cartel forces continues primarily on the far outskirts of the city, the tide has turned at least in Tijuana.

@Kenn The lost cities quote is from the "boing boing" article I link to later in the piece.

You're right that violence in Tijuana has reduced, relative to the levels in 2008/9.

100 years ago, the term drug related crime didn't exist.
100 years ago, no drugs were illegal. 100 years ago, Coca-Cola contained cocaine instead of caffeine.

Dont like drug dealers .they have been catching all these drug dealers. el nacho, la barbie, el grande, beltrans, el valencia. Please people the ENTIRE PROBLEM is the two people they havent caught Miguel and Lescano. what is wrong with this picture.50 thousand soldiers 5 thousand afi 3 thousand siedo etc. cant find two thugs. Yea and elvis is my neighbor. ha ha ha and yes they should hang all kidnappers and murderers of women and babies. Chapo finish the job, your country pleads with you. We have no government and on with ur lives so our kids can have a fighting chance in this fk.... up life.