On Campus - by Kenneth Hsu on Tuesday, December 1, 2009 8:30 - 8 Comments - 444 views
In the last U.S Goodbye lover download. Intelligence Squared Debate of the season, six more high-profile names will debate the United States relationship with Mexico at the Skirball Center tonight at 6:45 p.m. Student tickets are $12 ($35-$45 for normal tickets).
Speakers will debate the motion “America is to blame for Mexico’s drug war,” as in the current Mexican drug war that probably deserves more media attention. Arguing in favor of the motion is CNN personality and Newsweek columnist Fareed Zakaria, joined by scholars Andres Martin and Jeffrey A. Miron. Their opposition will be former Mexican foreign minister and political scientist Jorge Castañeda, NRA director Chris W. Cox, and former DEA director Asa Hutchinson. Like all the Intelligence Squared Debates this year, ABC Correspondent John Donvan will be moderating.
Mexico’s drug war has become a hot topic lately in light of the extreme violence among highly-armed drug cartels and corrupt local governments. The war has resulted in thousands of lost civilian lives, some even across the border. And despite the Obama administration’s renewed commitment to assisting in the fight, critics are blaming the United States for enabling the cartels to thrive off drug sales. See, that’s where your pot money is going.
Previous U.S. Intelligence Squared Debates this season have discussed the future of the media and Obama’s economic policies, with debaters including the likes of Eliot Spitzer and Liz Cheney.
8 Comments
Kirk Muse
Jillian Galloway
According to the ONDCP two-thirds of the cartel’s incomes come from selling marijuana in the U.S., that’s $8 – 10 BILLION a year.
Last year the cartels murdered more than 6,000 people to protect this income – many of their victims were children, police officers and politicians. This year they’re on track to kill at least 7,000 people.
The prohibition prevents legitimate businesses from undercutting cartel prices and ending their ability and incentive to commit these murders. We need to act now and tell our legislators to end the prohibition and control marijuana the same as alcohol.
John Lempka
It’s not that Fareed Zakaria isn’t qualified to participate in this debate, but the Gladwellian drivel he semi-regularly farts out for Newsweek kind of disqualifies him, IMHO.
John Lempka
Oh and the analogy between narcotics and alcohol prohibition is SO not one-to-one. (Not that I’m 100% pro-prohibition or anything.)
Joe Galarraga
Bummed I missed this; it sounds great.
John Chase
Trying to stamp out a popular substance increases its price and draws in more violent, reckless men to the trade. The harder the stamping, the more the profit and violence. This is not debatable, really, as anyone who understands the law of supply and demand knows it.
The only people who quit using are the casual users, who were never a problem anyhow. Addicts will continue to get their drug, whether legal or not. Cheeeeeez!
John Lempka
Pretty sure the government is aware of the effects of prohibition and runs cost-benefit scenarios on dealing with a fringe of addicts and the concomitant dealer infrastructure versus a widespread drug abuse problem, a la Chinese opium.
John Lempka
(That is not to say they’re making the right policy decisions, though.)
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Alcohol cartels existed for one reason: Alcohol Prohibition.
Mexican drug cartels exist for one reason: American drug prohibition policies.
When we terminated alcohol prohibition we terminated the alcohol cartels.
We need to terminate drug prohibition for the same reasons we terminated
alcohol prohibition.