Question Three

For John, BLUF:  The FEBA—the forward edge of the battle area—is creeping closer to Lowell.  Let's win the war on drugs before it gets here.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

Everyone from Police Chief Ken Lavallee to Sun editor Jim CamPanini say to vote NO on Question 3 come Tuesday.  I am in agreement.  This Medical Marijuana bill is not the one we need.

That said, the drug cartels are winning the war on drugs.&nbs; Put another way, we are losing the war on drugs to the cartels, who are penetrating further and further into these United States.

We need a new approach.  We need a new approach because of the lives ruined by drugs.  We need a new approach due to lives lost due to gang violence.  We need a new approach due to police departments and other branches of government corrupted by drug money.  We need a new approach because of tax dollars lost to fighting a black market in drugs.  We need a new approach because of tax revenue lost due to our inability to tax these criminal transactions.

Here is a Washington Post article from this weekend, "U.S. cities become hubs for Mexican drug cartels’ distribution networks".♠  Some might say this is old news, but here is why it isn't.

From someone in Chicago:

It is news because the murder rate in Chicago is skyrocketing as gangs jockey for turf to distribute drugs.  More than twice the rate of Mexico City and higher than New York which has triple our population.  It is almost entirely gang driven violence.

From a policeman in the LA area we have this:

There is another aspect to consider... we may be seeing early signs of vertical integration as cartels move their business process further down the chain and start to encroach on retail level sales activities of other gangsters.   That may play a role in Chicago.  I also hear cartels are moving closer to retail in Texas and Nevada.   If they do so in LA (no indication yet) we will see a significant jump in gangs crime...

Why do we have this question before us?  Beacon Hill has dropped the ball.

Vote NO on Question 3, but then start bugging your State Rep and State Senator to fix this like your community depended on it, which it does.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  I think the part about guns flowing South to Mexico is probably bogus, a red herring.