Who started the drug war? Well in the opinion of this author, it was the governments of the world, not the cartels who sell the drugs. Allow me to explain.
History lesson: One of the biggest bans on drugs was during prohibition. That drug of course was alcohol. Before the ban, the mafia and the gangs largely existed as petty thieves, extortionists and ran other illegal enterprises like gambling. However, these groups were tiny, and had relatively no impact on people outside of there area of influence. Prohibition changed this. With the banning of alcohol prices skyrocketed. Former small time crooks became big time crime bosses. Honest men saw the money to be made and went over into the illegal booze business. Soon, rival gangs fought for territory and control which killed many. Cops who sought to suppress the crime bosses were targets of assassination. But when prohibition ended, the mob largely disappeared due to their primary source of income gone. As such they either went into alternate illegal enterprises, legitimate business or simply changed jobs.
Parallels: The parallels of prohibition with the bans on illegal drugs like "weed" and "crack" are striking. Currently in
What to do: Our only option is to legalize each drug in the same way as many European countries do. Start with personal use laws and clinics (who dispense an individual’s drug of choice at market cost) that require the person to go to a doctor to prove they are addicted. This keeps the addicts away from illegal drug dealers and the money making it back to the cartels. This also insures that the strength of the drug can be controlled so that if and when the person wishes to get off the drug, they have an alternative to doing it "cold turkey." At this point you make the least lethal of drugs legal (like weed as no one has ever died from smoking it) bit by bit. With these drugs legal and the money dried up, the cartels have to either switch to a completely different illegal enterprise or go into a legitimate business.
Conclusion: I am not saying that this solution is the perfect one, but the fact is that prohibitions on things create an illegal market for people to buy and sell illegal substances and goods. By legalizing it in the long run, drug use will decrease (as it has in European countries that have done legalization). History has proven a good ally in telling us what needs to be done to end the bloodshed on the U.S. Mexican boarder and the drug war as a whole.
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