Rivera: Never-Ending Traffic

The answer to "Is the drug war winnable?" depends on which war exactly you are speaking about. There is the war America faces within American individuals, our addictions. Then there is the physical war between police forces and drug cartels, which more often than not, innocent civilians are strongly affected by. There are also political and social aspects that must be considered when discussing such a large scale problem.
I do not think there will ever be a difinitive end to the drug wars. I think saying there will be an end is like saying we can overcome every disease known to man. Maybe the idea seems plausible; maybe one day we could find a way to stop everyone's addictions, maybe we can find a way to form vaccine to every illness-they would still be there, but we would have built a wall between us and them. However, it will never be this easy. First of all, many people are currently focused on the issue of marajuana's legality; this is not the only drug in the world, nor is it the one I think should be the issue. As mentioned in class, the mob was formed as a result of the prohibition era. The government could stand to gain a lot with the legalization of marajuana. For a long time I was really against the idea of legalization of MJ, then I realized it might as well be legal when everyone in my class (except us lonely three) has smoked it. My point is that keeping pot ilegal has no purpose; those who really need it and try to obtain it legally have no hope, and those who just want to get high do it anyways.
The driving issue over the drug wars is simple. America has the highest number of drug users in the world. Mexico, the number one drug distributor for the US, knows this. At one point the President of Mexico was quoted in blaming all of Mexico's current cartel violence on America, saying that we have allowed them to gain power through the strenght of our addiction. I do not think that we can ever kick the habbit of addiction in America, and that is the only end to the social and individual drug wars America faces. Even if the governemnt legaleized pot, the heavy drugs (cocaine, heroine, etc) are still out there and being used-there is certainly no reason to legalize those. We will face this issue for a very long time, because there will always be money to be made in selling drugs to Americans.