As noted earlier, the Wall Street Journal‘s own Mary Anastasia O’Grady understand that Uncle Sam’s ‘war on drugs’ promotes violence. This letter, from someone on the scene, confirms Mary’s wisdom:
Mary O’Grady’s March 22 Americas column “The War on Drugs Is Doomed” is one of the best pieces ever written on the connection between U.S. drug policy and drug violence in Mexico. I just hope it can inform public policy discussions.
I am on the City Council of El Paso, Texas, across the border from Ciudad Juárez, where more than 5,000 people have been killed since President Calderón was elected. We are living the drug war, and it has been disastrous for our community.
In addition to bearing witness to the horrific killings of men, women and children in our sister city, it has become very clear to us that the failure of Juárez portends the failure of El Paso.
Juarenses spend more than $1.4 billion in our economy every year; more than $51 billion in U.S./Mexico trade passes through El Paso/Juárez ports of entry annually (almost 20% of trade between the two countries); Juárez economic activity is responsible for 60,000 jobs in El Paso; and, as you might imagine, family, business and other relationships extend over the border and are the basis of much of the economic and cultural success that we enjoy.
It is clearly in our interest to find a solution to this drug violence, and it is clear that central to that solution is acknowledging the role of drug consumption and drug prohibition in the U.S.
Ms. O’Grady has done an outstanding job through her columns in educating the public on the connection between drug consumption, drug prohibition and drug violence. Communities like ours are dependent on a better understanding and eventual action by our national elected leaders.
Beto O’Rourke
El Paso City Council
District 8
El Paso, Texas
