The paper’s editorial calls for action now to take on the violent Mexican drug cartels that pose great dangers to the U.S. Sec. of Defense Robert Gates said Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press that the U.S. is in a position to help Mexico with training, resources, surveillance and intelligence. Well, no better time than the present to act.
By The Philadelphia Inquirer
Imagine if murders in Philadelphia tripled. Imagine if they quadrupled. Imagine living in Juarez, Mexico. With a population about the same as Philadelphia’s 1.4 million, Juarez had 1,600 murders last year; Philadelphia had 332.
Last month, Juarez had more than 80 murders. If you think that sounds like a war zone, you would be right. Juarez is on the front lines of the so-called war on drugs. That multi-decade misadventure has filled U.S. prisons with thousands of drug-law violators, but hasn’t done enough to stem our demand for drugs.
Overall drug use among America’s youth is down 25 percent since 2001, according to a University of Michigan study. But 32 percent of 12th graders said they used marijuana over the past year.
One thought on “Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Calls For U.S. To Step It Up In Helping Mexico With Drug War”