Iguala, Mexico and the Casual American Drug User

Wikipedia

Iguala is a city of about 100,000 people southwest of Mexico City, a city at the center of national and international attention after 43 students went missing. Students were from a rural Mexican teacher's college, and they are are presumed dead — murdered — their remains burned and buried.

In Mexico thousands have marched in protest to express their anger and outrage. Some protesters went far as even torching the national palace in Mexico City to bring attention to government officials who are ineffectual at best and at their worst who collude with the narco traffickers, who are certainly behind this massacre. Mexicans are fed up. After years of drug war and brutal murders of thousands, this case sparked a national outrage, and rightfully so.

Narco traffickers is the general term to assigned to large, powerful drug cartels who fight among themselves for territory and control of drugs flowing from South America and Mexico to the United States. Without our staggering demand for illegal drugs these gangs would not be in existence, or they would not be as powerful. Profits are so vast they can buy politicians and the police, locally and nationally to protect their interests and operate without impunity.

How and why does this relate to my work? Americans spend about 500 billion dollars annually on cocaine, heroin, marijuana and meth. It is a staggering amount of money and most of the product travels through Mexico. Cocaine is produced further south Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. Heroin poppies are cultivated in Mexico as is marijuana. Mexico by its location serves as the funnel for drugs entering the country. Obviously we have a great appetite for drugs in America. And I've always made it clear that I advocate for personal choice when it comes to drug use.

Unlike other consumer goods the street drug buyers do nots have choice when it comes to the source of the supply. It is strictly a supplier's game. Cocaine and heroin are not labeled with their countries of origin or provenance. There is no Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) for drugs, or ethical cocaine and heroin, unlike, say, diamonds or chocolates.

I think one of the reasons why marijuana is being legalized in the US at a quickened pace is to decrease the amount trafficked from Mexico.

Am I saying casual drug users are somehow implicated in this? Maybe.

What I am saying is we cannot take street drugs from the larger global context. The money we spend on it may be supporting crime and even terrorist organizations. If you are going to boycott Walmart, GMO foods and blood diamonds, shouldn't you do the same with your weekend supply of recreational drugs?