Juarez and the Drug War

Note: This editorial was written by my friend and colleague City Representative Beto O'Rourke about the action that we took last Tuesday as a response to the violence in our sister city Juarez. The Mayor vetoed the item and so it will be back for consideration on Tuesday. It will take 6 of 8 votes to override the veto. I encourage everyone to participate in this debate by emailing and calling the Mayor and city representatives and showing up to put in your two cents. We've been getting a ton of emails, thoughtful responses both in support and against. One of my constituents ended his email on the subject with the following quote from Mark Twain which I think is perfect for this moment in our history: "Loyalty to a petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul."

From Beto: The civil government in Ciudad Juarez has collapsed. In our sister city of 1.5 million people murders, mutilation, torture, kidnappings and extortions are committed with impunity. Beyond the cost in human lives and safety, it also threatens to imperil the nascent economic rennaissance in this region and the over $2 billion spent by Mexican nationals in our local economy. And there is the very real national security threat, recently articulated by retired Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey, that this brutality and lawlessness could extend throughout Mexico and lead to a flood of refugees who would overwhelm our border, our city and our country and make today's undocumented immigration problem seem insignificant by comparison.

A crisis of this magnitude requires different thinking. We can't assume that continuing, or slightly modifying, a 40-year "Drug War" policy is going to produce anything better for Juarez or El Paso or our two countries. That is why this past Tuesday the City Council added an important amendment to a resolution brought to us by the Committee on Border Relations.

The Committee's original resolution was a strong, positive statement of support for our beleagured sister city and it contained a number of important policy recommendations, including stepped up enforcement of gun-trafficking in the U.S. and more funding for and focus on prevention and rehabilitation. However, we did not feel that the resolution went far enough in demanding a more comprehensive review of what is clearly a failed policy, one that has cost us billions of dollars, allowed drugs to still reach the U.S. consumer in an affordable and accessible manner, and one that has empowered the thugs and criminal organizations to the point that they, not the democratically elected government, now control the city of Juarez.

We felt that the resolution had to take one more step critical to rethinking what has been a failed policy. And so the unanimously adopted resolution contained the added request that our national lawmakers have an open, honest dialog about the prohibition of drugs.

This past December marked the 75th anniversary of the repeal of the prohibition of alcohol. In the midst of the Great Depression, while crime gangs ruled the streets of Chicago and other major cities, the American public realized that the millions of dollars spent to wipe out alcohol had done nothing to limit demand or supply and had only enriched and empowered gangs of murderous criminal entrepreneurs. On top of that, the U.S. was unable to regulate, control or tax the alcohol that was being consumed in greater quantities than before prohibiton. It is worth noting that the U.S. now averages over $7 billion a year in alcohol related tax collections.

Our current drug policy does not work. Ending prohibition on one or more illegal drugs may be part of the answer. But we will never know if we aren't willing to talk about it. That's all we're asking for, and I think it's the least we can do as we try to help change a tragic situation that has serious consequences for the future of our region.