Follow-up:
Drugs: Our Misunderstood Friend
Well, I must say I am truly flattered. I had no idea that the Mexican president reads my blog but apparently he does. If you haven't heard the story yet Mexico will legalize the possession of small quantities of drugs. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/03/world/main1575608.shtml
Now this is not certain at this point. United States officials are trying to push the Mexican government to not do this. Which is funny in a way. All Mexico is really doing is closing a loophole in their law. These quantities of drug possession is dropped by judges but the police still have to arrest the people before the judge drops the charges. With all that extra income and financial security that Mexico has I can certainly understand why they want to close this loophole.
In the article listed above here is a snippet:
On Friday, Mayor Jerry Sanders of San Diego, said he was "appalled" by the bill. The city of 1.3 million people is a short drive from the Mexican border town of Tijuana. "I certainly think we are going to see more drugs available in the United States," Sanders said. "We need to register every protest the American government can muster."
Here is something else the mayor said, “I view this as a hostile action by a longtime ally of the U.S.,” the mayor said at a new conference, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
Here's another politician:
“Mexico is becoming the second Columbia,” Rep. Henry Cuellar, D.-Texas, told The Post. “This is a serious and a ruthless situation.”
Another one:
Earlier Wednesday, U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Judith Bryan said U.S. officials had "urged Mexican representatives to review the legislation urgently to avoid the perception that drug use would be tolerated in Mexico, and to prevent drug tourism."
Something else:
Bryan said the U.S. government wants Mexico "to ensure that all persons found in possession of any quantity of illegal drugs be prosecuted or be sent into mandatory drug treatment programs."
Okay I am going to ask small children to look away, because I am about to use profanity. It is the only way I know to truly express my outrage at this point.
What gives us the fucking right to now look at Mexico and try to tell them what to do. What gives us the right to tell them how to govern their people. People that we have decided in this country that we want nothing to do with. This law does not affect us and still we try to force our will on other people. Every country does not have to be America, every country does not have to hold to our ideals. Are we fighting the crusades again a few hundred years later. Mexico can pass whatever law they want and it does not fucking concern us. They could pass a law that states that every Thursday at noon everyone in Mexico has to stick a blue dildo in their ass and sing Tutti Fruitti. And you know what, that's right, it does not fucking affect us.
This is abso-fucking-lutely in-fucking-sane. Truly it is. We have been yelling at Mexico like a bastard child for the last few months. Telling them that they better mind their children, we don't want to deal with them. Demanding that they do something to keep those horrible Mexicans out of our country and for them to stop stealing our jobs. We tell them that we don't want their people and we don't want anything to do with their people and then we try to tell them how to govern their people. That is bullshit.
Hey I know what this is really all about it has been referred to in the articles above. We are worried about "drug tourism" we are worried about Americans going down to Mexico to get high. Well so fucking what. For years people have been going down to Mexico for cheap booze, drugs, and hookers. Will that increase with a law like this, yeah probably, but so what. People can go to Amsterdam and get high if they want, but most people don't have the money for that kind of trip, but a few buddies can pile up and head for Tijuana easy enough. So once again we have class warfare here. Because the poor and middle class can do it now, we have to stop it. It is bad enough when we tell our fellow citizens in our own nation what they can and can't do because we don't want it to influence people, but now we are imposing ourselves on a soveriegn nation, a nation of democracy, an ally, and one of the few friends the United States has left in the world.
America's message to Mexico, "Hey if you want to sit by us in class you have to do what we tell you to." If I were you Mexico I would cave to the pressure though, don't forget if there is anything America is good at it is putting big holes in countries where brown people live.
During the writing of this article I found this follow-up story on CNN. Well, it looks like the big bully gets its way as usual.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/05/04/mexico.drugs.ap/index.html?section=cnn_latest
Drugs: Our Misunderstood Friend
Well, I must say I am truly flattered. I had no idea that the Mexican president reads my blog but apparently he does. If you haven't heard the story yet Mexico will legalize the possession of small quantities of drugs. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/03/world/main1575608.shtml
Now this is not certain at this point. United States officials are trying to push the Mexican government to not do this. Which is funny in a way. All Mexico is really doing is closing a loophole in their law. These quantities of drug possession is dropped by judges but the police still have to arrest the people before the judge drops the charges. With all that extra income and financial security that Mexico has I can certainly understand why they want to close this loophole.
In the article listed above here is a snippet:
On Friday, Mayor Jerry Sanders of San Diego, said he was "appalled" by the bill. The city of 1.3 million people is a short drive from the Mexican border town of Tijuana. "I certainly think we are going to see more drugs available in the United States," Sanders said. "We need to register every protest the American government can muster."
Here is something else the mayor said, “I view this as a hostile action by a longtime ally of the U.S.,” the mayor said at a new conference, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
Here's another politician:
“Mexico is becoming the second Columbia,” Rep. Henry Cuellar, D.-Texas, told The Post. “This is a serious and a ruthless situation.”
Another one:
Earlier Wednesday, U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Judith Bryan said U.S. officials had "urged Mexican representatives to review the legislation urgently to avoid the perception that drug use would be tolerated in Mexico, and to prevent drug tourism."
Something else:
Bryan said the U.S. government wants Mexico "to ensure that all persons found in possession of any quantity of illegal drugs be prosecuted or be sent into mandatory drug treatment programs."
Okay I am going to ask small children to look away, because I am about to use profanity. It is the only way I know to truly express my outrage at this point.
What gives us the fucking right to now look at Mexico and try to tell them what to do. What gives us the right to tell them how to govern their people. People that we have decided in this country that we want nothing to do with. This law does not affect us and still we try to force our will on other people. Every country does not have to be America, every country does not have to hold to our ideals. Are we fighting the crusades again a few hundred years later. Mexico can pass whatever law they want and it does not fucking concern us. They could pass a law that states that every Thursday at noon everyone in Mexico has to stick a blue dildo in their ass and sing Tutti Fruitti. And you know what, that's right, it does not fucking affect us.
This is abso-fucking-lutely in-fucking-sane. Truly it is. We have been yelling at Mexico like a bastard child for the last few months. Telling them that they better mind their children, we don't want to deal with them. Demanding that they do something to keep those horrible Mexicans out of our country and for them to stop stealing our jobs. We tell them that we don't want their people and we don't want anything to do with their people and then we try to tell them how to govern their people. That is bullshit.
Hey I know what this is really all about it has been referred to in the articles above. We are worried about "drug tourism" we are worried about Americans going down to Mexico to get high. Well so fucking what. For years people have been going down to Mexico for cheap booze, drugs, and hookers. Will that increase with a law like this, yeah probably, but so what. People can go to Amsterdam and get high if they want, but most people don't have the money for that kind of trip, but a few buddies can pile up and head for Tijuana easy enough. So once again we have class warfare here. Because the poor and middle class can do it now, we have to stop it. It is bad enough when we tell our fellow citizens in our own nation what they can and can't do because we don't want it to influence people, but now we are imposing ourselves on a soveriegn nation, a nation of democracy, an ally, and one of the few friends the United States has left in the world.
America's message to Mexico, "Hey if you want to sit by us in class you have to do what we tell you to." If I were you Mexico I would cave to the pressure though, don't forget if there is anything America is good at it is putting big holes in countries where brown people live.
During the writing of this article I found this follow-up story on CNN. Well, it looks like the big bully gets its way as usual.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/05/04/mexico.drugs.ap/index.html?section=cnn_latest
posted by Brandon Michael Collinsworth at 8:46 AM
3 Comments:
Mexico’s drug bill is an attempt to combat drug dealing. Pres. Fox’s spokesman refers to the bill as “a better tool ... that allows better action and better coordination in the fight against drug dealing” (1). But the media knows what stirs debate in this country, do they not? They know what we want to read about. We want to read about decriminalization so we can argue with our friends on our blogs and quote their newspapers as our sources. With headlines like “Mexico to Legalize Cocaine, Heroin Use” and constant references to Mexico’s “Drug Decriminalization Bill,” American interest is sparked. First, notice that CBS news is sure to mention two of the most deadly drugs in their headline. Why not have the headline read “Mexico to Legalize Marijuana?” Probably because marijuana does not scare our culture of fear enough—the deadly drugs get top billing. The label “Drug Decriminalization Bill” seems to be a misnomer, or at least an example of emphasis placed to evoke vehement responses. Why don’t the media and politicians refer to the bill as the “Police Authorization Bill?” This new bill would authorize more police to arrest people for drug offenses. Currently, only 21,000 or so Federal troops are allowed to do this. The new bill authorizes around 380,000 more police to pursue drug offenses. The bill also stiffens penalties against drug dealers. That seems like a good idea to me.
But let’s talk about what the media wants us to talk about…or I guess I should be honest and say it—let’s talk about what I want to talk about—the decriminalization clause. Would this portion of the bill combat drug dealing? You write, “These quantities of drug possession is dropped by judges but the police still have to arrest the people before the judge drops the charges.” The way I understand current Mexican law, the judge will only drop the charges if the person arrested can prove that he or she is an addict, meaning that if one cannot prove this, they are sanctioned. The new bill allows both addicts and what the bill terms as “consumers” to possess specified small quantities of drugs for personal use. This would apparently free jail space and cost less money, which are good things, but the downside is that, if we use the Netherlands as our trendsetters, addiction will rise, meaning more “consumers” will consume more drugs and the demand for drugs would be higher—leading to more drug dealing. Isn’t drug dealing the enemy that Mexico is trying to combat with this bill? According to Peter Reuter, a professor at the University of Maryland, “A study has yet to show that decriminalizing drugs has an effect on drug consumption or trafficking” (2). Isn’t this the same reason that many support safe-sex education instead of abstinence education—a study has yet to show that abstinence has an effect on STDs or teenage pregnancy. Decriminalization might be a neat experiment to do in Mexico, but can it achieve its goal of combating drug dealers?
Now I will critique your article: Mentioning the loophole that the Mexican government was trying to close gave credence to your argument; however, because of your over-the-top, venomous rhetoric, I think the latter half of your article would alienate most audiences, regardless of the good points sandwiched within the emotional rant—but I guess you named your blog brandonsrants for a reason :) You write, “This law does not affect us and still we try to force our will on other people.” I think this bill if it became law would affect the United States in some way, whether it be an increase in “drug tourism” among our citizens or more drug availability in our cities. If legislation made in a country affects its neighbors, it seems that the two countries could discuss things and come to some sort of agreement—kind of like when my neighbor plays loud music with their freaking car door open. I ask them if they’ll turn it down, and usually they agree. I usually don’t walk outside and demand them to turn it down and refer to their loud music as a “hostile action” against me and mine. I think that’s where some in the U.S. have veered in the wrong direction—they are attempting to, as you term it, bully Mexico. There should not be a need for that. Your point is well taken.
You write, “We have been yelling at Mexico like a bastard child for the last few months [....] Demanding that they do something to keep those horrible Mexicans out of our country and for them to stop stealing our jobs. We tell them that we don't want their people and we don't want anything to do with their people and then we try to tell them how to govern their people.” To me, it seems that the problem that the U.S. is having is not with “those horrible Mexicans.” The problem is with those ILLEGAL Mexicans. Most of the bills and ideas that have been proposed (not the Sensenbrenner bill) by Congress give illegal Mexicans opportunities to gain legal status. I think the U.S. does want something to do with these people, but we would rather that they follow our laws. Finally, you write, “[…] don't forget if there is anything America is good at it is putting big holes in countries where brown people live.” This statement implies that the U.S. has a racist foreign policy. You’ve stated that you believe that class is involved with U.S.-Mexican policy. Do you think that race is also a factor. If so, what is your supporting evidence?
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1. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/03/world/main1575608.shtml
2. http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0510/p04s01-woam.html
Okay, we couldn't be on more of the same page with the media's portrayal of this and many other things. They know how to grab people and make them not turn the channel or buy the paper. That has become their job more than presenting unbiased, informative reporting.
As for the current laws and judges dropping charges. My readings on it led me to believe, rightfully or wrongfully, that judges do in most cases drop the charges if the amount of possession is small. You say they have to prove they are addicts, but it was my understanding that much like changing a speeding ticket to a seatbelt ticket this is no big deal.
I totally agree also that there probably would be an increase in drug tourism because of this, but I stand by my claim that we don't have the right to stop this because of that. That is an individuals choice and the choice of Mexico.
George Lopez once said that illegal was a euphemism for people that looked like him. I tend to agree with that comment. I think the problem is with Mexico and Mexicans in particular. Our country has shown some acceptance toward the ones that are here, but I have seen no interest in allowing more to come here. The behavior I see we have with Mexico is unique because we don't seem to display the same behavior with say Canada.
As for my last comment. I was not necessarily trying to make a statement saying that the US's foreign policy has a racial component to it. The line I used is actually from the great sage George Carlin. I thought it was amusing and fitting for an ending. Mostly that was it, but yes I guess I used it becuase I have thought that our countries attitudes toward Mexico and Mexicans has been a form of accepted racism.
Strangely enough I had intentions on writing a piece on racism as it is today. I am now thinking I will make that a multi-part piece examining different sides of it. I will make the first part one what I do see as the racial components of our foreign policy since I have inadvertently brought that up. I am sure this will be interesting.
Looking forward to piece!!
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