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Mexico is just getting worse

How about we permit commercial sales, because then that would allow the government to easily regulate the quality of manufactured drugs as a safety measure, but prohibit advertisement to consumers, limit the quantity that can be purchased via a databank, and allow them to be purchased only at licensed distributors, such as pharmacies?

I'm for that. If you want to feck up anything give to the federal government to administer.

Pot should be legalized. I'm not so sure about anything else.
 
Physically, yes. Psychologically, no. Nicotine isn't mind-altering, except that you might get a little pick-up in mental energy. As someone who did quite a bit of experimenting when I was in my late teens, I assure you there is no comparison.

I meant physically. Obviously nicotine doesn't affect you as would, say, pretty much any drug that messes with your serotonin processing (e.g. ecstasy, cocaine). However, it's easier to quit both of those drugs than to quit smoking because neither leaves long-term physical cravings.
 
How about we permit commercial sales, because then that would allow the government to easily regulate the quality of manufactured drugs as a safety measure, but prohibit advertisement to consumers, limit the quantity that can be purchased via a databank, and allow them to be purchased only at licensed distributors, such as pharmacies?
Understanding what goes into the licensure of narcotics treatment facilities...no...I just dont think legalizing sales would ever be a good thing. If for no other reason than the potential legal liability. Some of the **** people are putting into their system is just plain wicked and I cant see a place for society ever facilitating that.
 
washunut ,tell me why america doesnt do anything to protect mexicans:lol:
 
Understanding what goes into the licensure of narcotics treatment facilities...no...I just dont think legalizing sales would ever be a good thing. If for no other reason than the potential legal liability. Some of the **** people are putting into their system is just plain wicked and I cant see a place for society ever facilitating that.

Because facilitating that is a better alternative than to allow drug cartels to control the drug trade.
 
What the heck is going on with Mexico? It seems to be getting worse. Is this country going to just implode? When the drug cartels clearly rule the roost, what can be done? Is there anything that can be done to fix this?


[video]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/47426255#47426255[/video]

The US must try to stabilize Mexico. It would pay off in the long run.
 
Because facilitating that is a better alternative than to allow drug cartels to control the drug trade.
See...Im REALLY not worried about the Cartels and mexicos drug problem. mexico is a toilet and will be til THEY decide to clean it up. Im not owning their problem and I really think its time we as a country and a people stop that practice.

Sorry...Im just not that into replacing a drug cartel by becoming their new 'legal' dealer. Frankly I cant think much more that would be a greater national disgrace. Thats not meant as a swipe or an attack...just how I feel about it.
 
See...Im REALLY not worried about the Cartels and mexicos drug problem. mexico is a toilet and will be til THEY decide to clean it up. Im not owning their problem and I really think its time we as a country and a people stop that practice.

Sorry...Im just not that into replacing a drug cartel by becoming their new 'legal' dealer. Frankly I cant think much more that would be a greater national disgrace. Thats not meant as a swipe or an attack...just how I feel about it.

I don't favor legalization because I care about Mexico and drug cartels, but because it's a personal liberty issue.
 
The US must try to stabilize Mexico. It would pay off in the long run.

Mexico needs to stabilize itself. The last thing we need to get involved in is another nation-building project.
 
Mexico needs to stabilize itself. The last thing we need to get involved in is another nation-building project.

We send money to other countries. Why shouldn't we fix Mexico? .

The bottom line is we can't afford to notfix Mexico. But just sending money will not do it. We need to take a very, very hard line. But that won't happen because of the lobby.
 
Mexico needs to stabilize itself. The last thing we need to get involved in is another nation-building project.

Depends what you mean by nation building. Obviously we don't want to get militarily involved. However, it's in our best interests to stimulate their economy. In my opinion, the single best way to reduce illegal immigration is to help Mexico create an economy capable of providing jobs for its citizens. If they could work there, they wouldn't come here. Win-win. Obviously that's not an easy thing to do, but I think focusing on micro lending (on a large scale) would be useful both directly (by encouraging the creation of small businesses) and indirectly (by putting money into the hands of actual citizens, rather than attempting to route large sums of money through an obviously corrupt government).
 
Sorry...Im just not that into replacing a drug cartel by becoming their new 'legal' dealer. Frankly I cant think much more that would be a greater national disgrace. Thats not meant as a swipe or an attack...just how I feel about it.

Sorry whom do you mean by "their" I fear you may have got the wrong end of a very long stick...........
 
What the heck is going on with Mexico? It seems to be getting worse. Is this country going to just implode? When the drug cartels clearly rule the roost, what can be done? Is there anything that can be done to fix this? [video]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/47426255#47426255[/video]
When I ask similar questions about America, I say that we need to fix things by taking the massive majority at or near the center of the political spectrum and give them a political vehicle to power.

But when I think of the same with Mexico, unlike here, their massive majority political vehicle would just be shot to swiss cheese before it traveled very far.

Prior to organizing overtly politically, these people would have to organize covertly millitarily, warring with the cartels until they're gone.

This would not be too dissimilar from how Nikita and Michael and the gang deal with Percy and Division, or a clandestine revolutionary version of .. "Bond, Jaime Bond" .. all cloak and dagger.

If the formal Mexican government tried this, they'd be bought off in no time (which is likely the case now), coup d'etated quickly, or surrender from ranks depletion due to marching in easy-target straight lines.

The only way to fight an al Qaeda-type operation sporting Taliban brazenness like the cartels is with similarly organized fire, complete with an unquenching ideological dedication to the cause that could not be bribed or overthrown.

The "people" will have to want to do so, to take their country back.

If they aren't willing to do what it takes, there's no hope.
 
Mexico needs to stabilize itself. The last thing we need to get involved in is another nation-building project.

You don't see any way that a civil war on your expansive southern border could in any way be disadvantageous to you? If anything it would be a great deal cheaper then the cost that a flood of refugees would impose upon the country.
 
We send money to other countries. Why shouldn't we fix Mexico? .

The bottom line is we can't afford to notfix Mexico. But just sending money will not do it. We need to take a very, very hard line. But that won't happen because of the lobby.

Because we can't fix Mexico. It's a different culture, with different priorities, and different lifestyles.
 
Because we can't fix Mexico. It's a different culture, with different priorities, and different lifestyles.

Indeed! I'm thinking most of the people railing on about Mexico have never been there or have been once or twice to some gated, all inclusive resort in Cancun or Tulum.
 
We send money to other countries. Why shouldn't we fix Mexico? .

The bottom line is we can't afford to notfix Mexico. But just sending money will not do it. We need to take a very, very hard line. But that won't happen because of the lobby.

Why do we need to continue working on other countries besides our own? We have way bigger issues in America before we need to go lead a revolution (tongue in cheek) in Mexico.
 
Because we can't fix Mexico. It's a different culture, with different priorities, and different lifestyles.

We actually have more in common with Mexico as far as how we got where we are than we do with Canada.
 
Federal Police are still in control of Mexico right now. I point the finger at them.

Are they still in a state of Marshal Law down there?
 
We actually have more in common with Mexico as far as how we got where we are than we do with Canada.

That doesn't indicate that we can, or should, try to fix another nation, who has little in common with us culturally.
 
That doesn't indicate that we can, or should, try to fix another nation, who has little in common with us culturally.

The reality is much more complex. The issues of drugs and illegal immigration aside (though it is hard not to look at the situation though either of those lenses), Mexico is one of our largest trading partners. We depend on Mexico for a number of relatively important items, and cheap Mexican goods, manufacturing in Northern Mexico of more expensive goods, and produce, to name a few, are important parts of our economy.

The culture of Mexico is intertwined inextricably with the cultures of all of the southwestern states, particularly Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California. Mexico is very important to the US.
 
What the heck is going on with Mexico? It seems to be getting worse. Is this country going to just implode? When the drug cartels clearly rule the roost, what can be done? Is there anything that can be done to fix this?


[video]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/47426255#47426255[/video]

but they do have strict gun control

why the problems?
 
The reality is much more complex. The issues of drugs and illegal immigration aside (though it is hard not to look at the situation though either of those lenses), Mexico is one of our largest trading partners. We depend on Mexico for a number of relatively important items, and cheap Mexican goods, manufacturing in Northern Mexico of more expensive goods, and produce, to name a few, are important parts of our economy.

The culture of Mexico is intertwined inextricably with the cultures of all of the southwestern states, particularly Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California. Mexico is very important to the US.

Yes, it is very complex, which is why we can't fix Mexico's problems. The corruption is so culturally ingrained that you and I wouldn't recognize Mexico as a legitimate and stable country. The Mexican culture shared with our border states is shallow and on the surface. The real culture runs deep and is at odds with our own, in the sense of politics.

Lomnitz said he became interested in corruption while doing fieldwork in rural Mexico in the late 1970s. "It seemed that everyone was talking about corruption and blaming officials for committing it. At the same time, if you looked at municipal finances, resources were so scarce that overstepping legal norms was necessary just to carry out the officers' ascribed functions," Lomnitz said. "Moreover, I was intrigued by the fact that although people complained about stealing on the part of officials, many also said that they would do the same thing if they had the power."

After independence, the system continued, with poorly paid bureaucrats again expected to extract additional payments to make up for shortfalls from the tax revenue. "In most cases there
Lomnitz: Understanding history of corruption in Mexico


In modern Mexico, this system attempts to ensure that services are rendered to certain people. As in colonial times, it also attempts to make up the shortfall in salaries. I have personally heard Mexican government officials say that corruption is almost a necessity in Mexico to maintain order and stability. It is seen as a way of life. As long as most people feel they are getting their share - even if it is through corrupt means - then it keeps the masses happy.

Another angle of corruption in Mexico is the dreaded plata o plombo - "silver or lead," meant as take the bribe or take the bullet. This is a form of corruption encouraged by fear, as opposed to social acceptance or economic survival. Many police officers in Mexico are corrupt because they or their families are physically threatened by DTO members. Public executions of over 450 police officers and soldiers in Mexico last year are proof that the DTOs are more than willing to make good on their threats.

So how does the Calderon administration, which is so committed to cleansing Mexico of this endemic corruption, accomplish this goal? The sad fact is, it can't. Calderon is up against roughly 500 years of history ingrained into his people. He also has two other major things working against him: the economy and an organized crime crisis. If the average Mexican citizen could make a fair living by living fairly, then corruption wouldn't be seen as necessary. While corruption exists in the United States (and every country, for that matter), it exists to a much smaller extent because public servants - for the most part - earn a fair salary with which they can make a living. The Mexican economy is the 12th largest in the world, but the country has an extremely high rate of underemployment, and most people do not earn what Americans would call fair salaries for their work. Unless economic conditions in Mexico improve, the economic challenge to eliminating corruption will remain. The organized crime threat from DTOs is so pervasive, few public or law enforcement officials in Mexico can escape it. When accepting a bribe is a matter of life or death, rather than being honorable or corrupt, the choice is easy for many. Mexican society may not see this as a form of corruption as Americans do, since it is a manner of survival that American cops don't have to deal with. Regardless, the unreliability of Mexican law enforcement is the largest obstacle Calderon must face. Short of removing the large majority of Mexican law enforcement from their posts, which is impractical and probably impossible, Calderon will have to continue to rely on the more reliable, very loyal, and considerably less corrupt Mexican Army as the only stop-gap measure at his disposal.
Mexico's Drug War: IN FOCUS: Corruption in Mexico
 
I´m in Mexico right now. The hype is just that. Hype. The Northern part of the country is in trouble mostly because of US pressure on Mexico to fight it´s own War on Drugs. The Mid and Southern parts of the country are absolute havens for tourists and American retirees. This nonsense about fixing Mexico´s problem is just that, nonsense. End the war on drugs and we´ll end the problem WE created FOR Mexico.
 
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