Student's Addiction Came Early; Escape Almost Elusive In a cramped bathroom stall at Edward Cary Middle School, Mariela and her crew passed around a binder and a school badge to divide the lines of powder. Jeff Lautenberger/staff Photographer Mariela, who has shared her experiences on television, has replaced drugs with education. She is pursuing an associate of applied science degree at Eastfield College in Mesquite in hopes of becoming a substance abuse counselor. She expects to graduate in May. [continues 3263 words]
A state trooper criticized for conducting body cavity searches of two Irving women during a traffic stop has been placed on paid suspension. The two women have filed a federal lawsuit against trooper Kelley Helleson and another trooper, as well as the head of the state Department of Public Safety. The lawsuit accuses Helleson of using her fingers to conduct cavity searches - using the same latex gloves - on both women in July on State Highway 161. The women were searched for illegal drugs after the other trooper stopped them for throwing cigarette butts out of their car. No drugs were found. The Dallas County district attorney's public integrity division is investigating the case, which will go before a grand jury in January. Helleson will remain suspended during the investigation, DPS spokesman Tom Vinger said. [end]
Elections have consequences. Mitt Romney was poised to be President of the United States. He lost the election and ended up on the Marriott hotel chain's Board of Directors. He went from nearly being the next leader of the free world to trying to keep hotel guests from stealing from their hotel room mini-bars. Overlooked in the long race for president (won, as most marathons are, by a Kenyan) were some state votes on social issues. Washington State was the first to legalize the possession of marijuana without a doctor's prescription; Colorado followed this week. In a related story, Twinkies maker Hostess quickly emerged from bankruptcy. [continues 627 words]
Ah, the great American West, where man can generally breathe free and also inhale -- woman, too. Thank you, thank you, voters in Colorado and Washington state, for legalizing marijuana. But will Washington, D.C., leave you alone? Attorney General Eric Holder said this week that the Justice Department will weigh its response to the state referenda. A new national poll finds 58 percent of Americans in favor of making marijuana legal and only 39 percent against. A raft of other state laws easing the prohibition on pot and growing public contempt for the existing law should be enough to change the policy. And so should a basic sense of decency. [continues 515 words]
Marijuana Destroys Lives, Says Angelia Megahan The progressive folks of Colorado and Washington recently sowed the weed issue into the forefront of our collective consciousness. The case for the decriminalization of THC certainly grows. Yet I remain a holdout, even though the arguments, as put forth in the Dallas Morning News, are compelling - albeit nothing new. Ten years ago, a woman told me that marijuana usage was "no big deal." I, a prosecutor at the time, waxed on about how it leads to a dead end. She laughed. A melodic guttural laugh complete with a beautiful smile dimmed only by pain that lay languishing in her eyes. [continues 529 words]
Re: Meeting Of The Presidents - Drug strategy should be part of conversation I applaud the editorial board for confronting the destructive results of the drug war and calling for "more realistic marijuana policies." It is far past time. I am mystified by how "decriminalizing consumption" might "remove mega-profits from illicit trade." Decriminalization would save tax dollars because police would be handing out tickets for marijuana possession instead of making arrests. There would be further savings for the courts and the jails. Decriminalization would make us all safer because police would have more time to pursue serious crime. The production, distribution and sale of drugs would still be in the hands of criminals. The megaprofits would not be removed. Only legalization and regulation could do that. Suzanne Wills, Drug Policy Forum of Texas, Dallas [end]
Finally, politicians with fortitude have opened a discourse on the subject of marijuana. With nothing to lose, two old lame ducks - odd couple Barney Frank and Ron Paul - broached the subject of federally legalized pot after evidence that the drug war has proven to be unwinnable after 40-plus years of trying. Like alcohol and tobacco, pot is evidently here to stay. But, is it enough simply to legalize? Why not grow marijuana under strict license to take out a large chunk of drug cartels' profits? The cost of implementing the drug war may be partially saved along with a true "cash crop" of pot for farmers to sell and the feds, states and cities to tax - and even to export. This idea, whose time has come, is not without complexities and concerns, but obviously alternatives to prohibition need serious consideration. Bob Dewberry, North Dallas [end]
The voters of Colorado and Washington state have made it clear the federal government can no longer get away with confusing the drug war's collateral damage with a comparatively harmless plant. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to subsidize violent drug cartels, prohibition is a success. The drug war distorts supply and demand dynamics so that big money grows on little trees. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to deter use, prohibition is a failure. The United States has double the rate of marijuana use as the Netherlands, where marijuana is legal. [continues 70 words]
Texas legislators should follow the recommendations of the Texas Coordinating Council for Veterans Services and significantly expand Veterans Treatment Courts throughout the state. Texas has already saved $2 billion through aggressive criminal justice reform, including the expansion of drug courts. Now is the time to further these cost-effective programs while coming to the aid of the men and women who have sacrificed for our country. Veterans Treatment Courts operate similar to drug courts, but are reserved for veterans suffering from substance abuse, mental illness or trauma. They actually save money because in most cases the VA covers the treatment. [continues 53 words]
2nd 911 Call From Complex Judged to Be Same Case Matthew Sanchez had been popping Xanax pills for hours and was fading fast. When he finally collapsed to the floor of his Far North Dallas apartment during the early morning hours of Nov. 16, a friend dialed 911 for him and disappeared. At the time of the call, Dallas Fire-Rescue paramedics were already working an emergency at the same apartment complex that had been phoned in only 11 minutes earlier. Emergency responders thought the calls were the same because of miscommunication so they did not respond to Sanchez's apartment while saving the first caller. [continues 1225 words]
When voters in Colorado and Washington recently legalized the recreational use of marijuana, their actions left Mexico President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto wondering whether tracking down pot growers in Mexico is a futile strategy. It's an understandable question for Pena Nieto to ask directly when he visits President Barack Obama at the White House in a traditional postelection meeting of leaders. At the prodding of the United States, Mexico spends billions of dollars annually to fight violent and wealthy paramilitary drug trafficking organizations. Yet the U.S., which also lays out billions of dollars to curb marijuana and other drug use, remains the main destination of marijuana produced in Mexico. [continues 356 words]
Advocates of legalizing marijuana in Texas say they are optimistic that their message will begin to catch on with Texas voters after Colorado and Washington state voted Nov. 6 to approve legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana for recreational use. "We're encouraged and more convinced than ever that we will eventually prevail," said David Sloane, a spokesman for DFW Norml, a North Texas group that promotes marijuana legalization. "Prohibition is far more harmful to our communities than marijuana ever will be, and taxpayers are sick of their money being used to support failed drug war policy." [continues 406 words]
Re: "Young pawns in the drug war -- Police are enlisting youthful offenders for work that's risky, unregulated and sometimes deadly, says Sarah Stillman," Sunday Points. Thank you, Sarah Stillman and The Dallas Morning News, for publishing this commentary on current insane, violence-promoting drug-war tactics. It is morally bankrupt to punish nonviolent adults for making a safer health choice, cannabis or marijuana, compared to other medicinal or social drugs. Young nonviolent informants' deaths and other triggered violence from drug prohibition across the nation are an outrage that can no longer be tolerated. [continues 91 words]
Drug Strategy Should Be Part of Conversation When voters in Colorado and Washington recently legalized the recreational use of marijuana, their actions left Mexico President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto wondering whether tracking down pot growers in Mexico is a futile strategy. It's an understandable question for Pena Nieto to ask directly when he visits President Barack Obama at the White House today in a traditional postelection meeting of leaders. At the prodding of the United States, Mexico spends billions of dollars annually to fight violent and wealthy paramilitary drug trafficking organizations. Yet the U.S., which also lays out billions of dollars to curb marijuana and other drug use, remains the main destination of marijuana produced in Mexico. [continues 354 words]
Re: =93Drug test plan is unlawful =AD It would violate rights of applicants for jobless aid, welfare, says Kurt Schwarz,=94 Wednesday Viewpoints. I find it offensive in the extreme that Schwarz dares to drag veterans and senior citizens into his argument on drug testing for unemployment and welfare applicants. My husband is a 20-year Marine Corps veteran. He earned his pension =AD he is not asking for a government handout =AD a very large distinction. Also, let me assure you that my husband was drug tested each and every year that he served, several times a year, in fact. I don't remember the ACLU complaining about that. [continues 83 words]
Police are enlisting youthful offenders for work that's risky, unregulated and sometimes deadly, says Sarah Stillman On the evening of May 7, 2008, a 23-year-old woman named Rachel Hoffman got into her silver Volvo sedan, put on calming jam-band music, and headed north to a public park in Tallahassee, Fla. A recent graduate of Florida State, she was dressed to blend into a crowd: jeans, T-shirt, black Reef flip-flops. On the passenger seat beside her was a handbag that contained $13,000 in marked bills. [continues 2492 words]
Colorado and Washington made history on Election Day when their citizens voted to legalize marijuana and regulate it like alcohol. The temptation for wordplay is high (we're allowed one), but the time for pot jokes is over. These successful legalization efforts mark a turning point in our nation's War on Drugs, and how we react will set the stage for decades to come. In this realm of marijuana policy, we encourage the Department of Justice to heed the words of Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis: "It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country." [continues 812 words]
Re: "Pot is no laughing matter - Our children are being targeted by drug dealers, says Lisa M. Virgoe," Saturday Viewpoints. "Whether or not you think the 'war on drugs' is working, wrongheaded or a spectacular failure is immaterial." Such a statement could only be made by someone who really does not care or who is totally unaware of the damage being done. Our laws should reflect the truth. The truth is that marijuana is much less dangerous than alcohol or tobacco. Of these three "recreational drugs," how many people die from each one every day? [continues 102 words]
A man who changed my life died recently. Tim and my wife were both bound to wheelchairs when we met. It was so easy to become angry at a hard life. He taught us that despite suffering, we could choose gratitude and happiness. His example changed our way of thinking. When his multiple sclerosis prevented him from serving the poor at his church in Dallas, he continued to minister to people like me in his home. He became known for his medical marijuana advocacy, as he found it helped him. The essence in everything he touched was about compassion, gratitude and grace. He was one of the most faithful men I have ever met. He always greeted you with a smile and the most jolly hello. You couldn't leave his presence without feeling better about yourself. Stephen Betzen, south Oak Cliff, director of the Texas Coalition for Compassionate Care [end]
MWISD developing testing policy for students in extracurricular activities Mineral Wells ISD trustees gave the district's School Health Advisory Committee the green light to further develop a student drug testing policy to potentially implement in the next school year. Lead Nurse and SHAC Chair Wanda Voelcker informed trustees that committee members visited with the police chief and drug task force and believe that adopting a policy to randomly test students involved in extracurricular activities might help deter some students from using drugs. [continues 471 words]
Sober Democracy Prevails in 2 More States, Philadelphia Inquirer Says After his state became one of two where marijuana legalization was approved by voters Nov. 6, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper warned that "federal law still says marijuana is an illegal drug, so don't break out the Cheetos or Goldfish too quickly." Hickenlooper's allusion to marijuana induced munchies was amusing, but it had a sly, sinister subtext - namely, that the measure was brought about by nothing more than a ragtag army of stoners who just want the government to let them get high. Would Hickenlooper, a Democrat who opposed the initiative, have us believe that more than half of Colorado's electorate consists of inveterate potheads in the mold of Cheech and Chong? [continues 162 words]
Re: Talking Points quote by Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Sunday Points. The legalization of marijuana makes absolutely no sense. Everyone knows that marijuana causes people to do stupid and dangerous things, so why would we make it easy for people to get a hold of it? It is like we are asking for more accidents to happen. The government says there is going to be a limit to how high you can be while driving, but we have all seen how well that works with alcohol. Some people keep pointing out that cellphone use while driving causes more accidents, but that in no way justifies using drugs. The fact still remains that people who are driving while under the influence have a good chance of causing an accident; it does not matter that cellphones cause more accidents. [continues 78 words]
A nearly three-month operation that targeted gang-related crimes in Northeast El Paso resulted in more than 100 arrests -- most of which were on outstanding narcotics warrants. Operation Triple Beam, which started in mid-August and ended Friday, led to the arrests of 119 gang members and 17 convicted felons who failed to register as sex offenders, according to the El Paso Police Department. Officers seized about $15,000 in cash, five firearms and drugs with a street value of more than $85,000. More than 330 outstanding warrants were cleared with the arrests. [continues 480 words]
According to the Sunday story "Israel invests in medical cannabis industry - Government encouraging farming, pharmaceutical distribution of marijuana," the medical marijuana industry in Israel is expanding, investing in research and technology and is supported by the government. It produces a product that "is cost-effective and dramatically reduces patients' needs for other pain medications, such as morphine, that can produce unwanted side effects." In contrast, another Sunday article, "Extortion, influence fuel drug cartel's rise - Despite government effort, Knights Templar have infiltrated society," describes the familiar story in Mexico where gangs distribute drugs illegally. [continues 105 words]
What began as tolerance for medicinal marijuana in a few states transformed into legalization of recreational marijuana on Election Day. According to the Drug Policy Alliance website, Colorado and Washington became the first states and political jurisdictions in the world to allow for the regulation, taxation and control of marijuana. According to Politco, 54.8 percent, or 1,289,748 voters, approved the referendum while 45.2 percent, or 1,063,282 voters, rejected it in Colorado. In Washington, 55.4 percent, or 1,056,355 of voters, approved it while 44.6 percent, or 848,919 voters, voted against it. [continues 803 words]
Strong case for new approach weakened by contrived link to director's life. "The House I Live In" is an ambitious documentary about the real object of the war on drugs, and the real results of it. Director Eugene Jarecki offers proof and expert testimony that traces the war to efforts to isolate an activity of America's counterculture, an effort that turned into wars against entire communities. Jarecki makes a pretty good case, because the evidence - that cocaine became a criminal justice obsession at a time of rising black ambitions in the U.S., that marijuana became demonized only with the rise of Latin culture in the U.S. - is there. [continues 282 words]
We can't have people like Beto O'Rourke in a position of leadership in the federal or state government who deny the effects of marijuana on society. I have been a witness and testify that having lived through that hell twice that it doesn't stop there. There will be other illicit drugs to try. People of affluence can't understand an ordinary person and the extent of the problems drugs can bring. Besides despair, destruction, unproductive lives, domestic violence, accidents, child abuse and neglect, drugs anesthetize and corrupt the mind and weaken the foundation of America. [continues 67 words]
During Tuesday's presidential debate, Gov. Mitt Romney brought up the disastrous "Operation Fast and Furious," which has killed many innocent Mexican people. This failed U.S.-backed operation, which allowed guns to walk into Mexico, has become the greatest scandal since Watergate. Despite Romney's valid and timely mention, our current president decided not to even counter or merely touch on the topic. This should hardly surprise anybody. More than 100,000 people have been murdered in Mexico since the drug war began almost six years ago. This total is almost the entire population of Odessa. [continues 104 words]
Nelly's Tour Bus Is Stopped at the Same Place Fiona Apple Was Arrested Last Month. HOUSTON - Heroin, 10 pounds of marijuana and a loaded handgun were allegedly found on the tour bus of rapper Nelly on Wednesday night. And if he were considering a war of words with local law enforcement, singer Fiona Apple might advise him to think twice. The seizure occurred at a Border Patrol checkpoint on a lonely stretch of West Texas' Interstate 10 that has become infamous for celebrity drug busts. Also busted have been country singer Willie Nelson, actor Armand "Armie" Hammer, rapper Snoop Dogg and the aforementioned Apple. [continues 752 words]
Leonard Pitts Jr. Says New Restrictions on Voting Being Implemented Around the Nation Could Disenfranchise Millions of African- Americans. Kemba Smith Pradia went to Tallahassee, Fla., last week to demand the right to vote. Back in the 1990s, when she was just Kemba Smith, she became a poster child for the excesses and inanities of the so-called War on Drugs. Pradia, then a college student in Virginia, became involved with, and terrorized by, a man who choked and punched her regularly and viciously. By the impenetrable logic of battered women, she thought it was her fault. [continues 565 words]
By the time the 21st Amendment ended national alcohol prohibition in December 1933, more than a dozen states had already opted out. Maryland never passed its own version of the Volstead Act, while New York repealed its alcohol prohibition law in 1923. Eleven other states eliminated their statutes by referendum in November 1932. We could see the beginning of a similar rebellion against marijuana prohibition this year as voters in three states - Washington, Colorado and Oregon - decide whether to legalize the drug's production and sale for recreational use. If any of these ballot initiatives pass, it might be the most consequential election result this fall, forcing both major parties to confront an unjust, irrational policy that Americans increasingly oppose. [continues 556 words]
Court Rules Medical Marijuana Initiative Will Go Before the Voters Once upon a time, Texarkana, Texas, decided liquor stores should be banished-all the way across State Line Avenue to the Arkansas side. And so it has been for many years now. The business of selling the hard stuff has been exclusive to the Arkansas-side liquor stores-or the nicer-sounding "package stores" if you prefer-that line the avenue and a few other locations in the city. Now it looks like the Arkansas side might get another exclusive retail product-medical marijuana. [continues 366 words]
Re: Sept. 23 article, " Film spies on final rest of capos." Mexican cartel violence is a direct result of drug prohibition. Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only increase the profitability of drug trafficking. For addictive drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The U.S. drug war doesn't fight crime, it fuels crime. Taxing and regulating marijuana, the most popular illicit drug, is a cost-effective alternative to never-ending drug war. As long as marijuana distribution is controlled by drug cartels, consumers will continue to come into contact with hard drugs such as methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin. Marijuana prohibition is a gateway drug policy. Robert Sharpe Arlington, Va. [end]
It started with hallucinations and quickly turned violent. Kevin Anthony Schoolmeyer was driving home to Friends-wood from a party in June when the 21-year-old started to hit his friend sitting in the passenger seat. Then suddenly, his limbs began to flail around, he punched the console and began ripping accessories off the vehicle's interior, according to an autopsy report. Shortly after that, he died. Schoolmeyer's was the first case. The following month a 15-year-old Houston girl also returning home from a party with a friend said she felt sick before her arms and legs began thrashing around. About 30 minutes later, she was dead. [continues 878 words]
LAREDO -- The official welcome for the Logistics and Manufacturing Symposium here last week was delivered by Mayor Raul Salinas, who gave a rousing endorsement of his booming border city. "Laredo is open for business. Make sure you enjoy this safe and wonderful city," he told the assembled customs brokers, manufacturers and transporters, American and Mexican, and all involved in the auto industry. Salinas spoke with passion about the importance of cross-border cooperation and friendship, and Nuevo Laredo Mayor Benjamin Galvan offered similar sentiments. The two mayors then shared a hearty "abrazo." [continues 1474 words]
Back in 2005, when the drug war in Mexico was just beginning to snowball into a frenzy of murder and extortion, I traveled to the Jardines de Humaya Cemetery on the outskirts of Culiacan, Sinaloa, for a story about the music and culture surrounding drug trafficking in western Mexico. I had been told that the cemetery was the final resting place for some of the top soldiers and capos in the Sinaloan drug world, but that did not prepare me for what I saw there: rows of magnificent tombs and mausoleums made of polished marble and smoked glass, many in the shapes of churches and castles. Inside were pictures of young men, many holding their cuerno de chivo, or goat's horn, slang for the AK-47s and other submachine guns popular among the narco armies. [continues 672 words]
"Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temperance. It is a species of intemperance within itself, for it goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation, and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A Prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded." - President Abraham Lincoln. Prohibition failed. There is no denying this. To say otherwise would ignore 14 long years of U.S. history. To deny its failure would be to ignore organized crime, black markets and the resolve of American citizens to openly defy a law that infringed on our liberties. Prohibition demonstrated that a top-down approach of forbid and punish does little to change the social behaviors of the people. But as the old saying goes, those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. [continues 794 words]
What business does our City Council have appeasing these protesters from Mexico who come over here and tell America that it is America's fault for the trafficking of drugs and selling of guns to Mexico? So, "thank you," City Council, for accepting the blame for America causing the cartel wars in Mexico. If this "Caravan of Accusers" wants to do something about the deaths in Juarez and throughout Mexico, then take their issues up with the Mexican authorities. America did not make Mexico's strict gun laws which prevent Mexican citizens from being able to protect themselves from gangsters and thugs. [continues 62 words]
Javier Sicilia's words still ring of poetry, though he says he's stopped writing it. A renowned novelist, essayist, and poet - winner of Mexico's top poetry prize three years ago - Sicilia told mourners gathered at his son's funeral in May 2011 when he read his final poem: "No puedo escribir mas poesia ... la poesia ya no existe en mi." It's no longer in me. The murder of his son Juan Francisco last year, an innocent 24-year-old university student found along with six of his friends bound and shot by drug traffickers in Cuernavaca, shook Sicilia's world. With deep anguish also came conviction. With the rallying cry "!Hasta la madre!" Sicilia became the unlikely front man to a people's movement across Mexico, leading peace marches throughout last year to publicly denounce the violence, the cartels, and the government corruption that's allowed the problem to fester. [continues 1201 words]
Editor's note: Quotes from Javier Sicilia and Maria Guadalupe Aguilar Jauregui were translated from Spanish by a translator at the rally. Hundreds of members of the Austin community gathered at City Hall Saturday to call for an end to drug violence in the U.S. and south of the border. Saturday marked the Austin stop on a two-month, cross-country tour by the Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity, a grassroots initiative started by Mexican poet Javier Sicilia after his son and six of his friends were killed in 2011 in drug-related violence. According to an article on Sicilia in Time magazine, the drug war in Mexico has been responsible for at least 10,000 disappearances and 60,000 deaths since 2006. [continues 403 words]
The Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity, lead by Mexican poet and writer Javier Sicilia, made a stop in El Paso Aug. 20 to bring awareness to the brutality of the ongoing drug war in Mexico and to push U.S. local, state and national authorities to include this topic in their political agendas. The caravan was welcomed by dozens of El Paso activists and supporters in search of a solution to the drug war. "We can't separate ourselves from Mexico," said Josiah Heyman, chair and professor of anthropology. "There's no question that there's a whole bunch of things that Mexico needs to do that are Mexico's responsibility in terms of their criminal justice system, their legal system, their political system, but there's a bunch of things the United States needs to do." [continues 538 words]
During a stop in the Rio Grande Valley, Javier Sicilia, who heads the Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity, blamed both Mexico and the United States for not waging a better fight against drugs and organized crime. The Mexican poet appeared with the caravan in Brownsville Thursday evening, hours after a stop in Alamo in the Upper Valley. The caravan began its trip Aug. 11 in Tijuana, Mexico, and plans to arrive Sept. 12 in Washington. The Caravan for Peace was initiated by Sicilia after his son, Juan Francisco, and six other men were killed last year by suspected members of organized crime in the state of Mexico. [continues 457 words]
Ricardo Rivera was watching TV in his bedroom in Monterrey when he heard gunshots. Fifteen armed men stormed his house wearing hoods, ordering him, his brother and his mother to the floor. They filled a backpack with money and jewels, beating Rivera and his brother, Roy. The bulletproof vests they wore bore the symbol of the police. When they left, they took Roy Rivera with them. "My brother never came back," Ricardo Rivera told a crowd gathered at the Capitol on Saturday. [continues 332 words]
Four sons of Maria Herrera Magdalena are missing. "Two of my sons disappeared on August 28, 2008, in the state of Guerrero," she said Thursday in a visit to the Rio Grande Valley. "And after two years I again have the same thing happen. Two more sons have disappeared." Herrera Magdalena is part of the Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity that is traveling across the United States to promote bilateral efforts to end the drug violence in Mexico and along the border. [continues 307 words]
Irma Leticia Hidalgo stepped off the bus with her 18-year-old son, immediately unfolding a sign and holding a photo of Roy Rivera Hidalgo, her now-20-year-old son who was kidnapped more than a year ago. "We want to find him," she said. "(We came) so we could be heard by the authorities." "This is something very difficult," Hidalgo's son Ricardo Rivera said in Spanish. "He is my only brother." Hidalgo was just one of the 105 victims, family members and activists who participated in Friday evening's stop of the Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity, led by well-known Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, whose son was killed in drug violence last year. Activists say 70,000 people have been killed or have disappeared in Mexico's drug war. [continues 478 words]
Mandan armas. Compran drogas. Gente muere. After one last poem, Mexican Poet Javier Sicilia said he will not write poetry again, following the murder of his son, Juan Francisco, 24, yet another innocent victim of Mexico's drug violence. But to speak to Sicilia about what might be done about this is to be served up some poetic simplicity. Allow me to synthesize: Send arms. Buy drugs. People die. This is the gist of what he said in an interview by cellphone Wednesday as his caravan - the Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity - traversed Texas. It started in San Diego, Calif., and will end in Washington, D.C., with a stop this evening in San Antonio. More on this in a bit. [continues 483 words]
Prompted by the drug war that has taken the lives of an estimated 80,000 men, women and children in Mexico, a social movement has decided to take action to seek civilian diplomacy. Javier Sicilia, a Mexican poet and writer, created the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity after his son, Juan Francisco, was murdered in March 2011. No justice was served in the murder of Sicilia's son. His story is one of many that fall prey to the drug war and a corrupt justice system in Mexico. [continues 623 words]
Led by well-known Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, a cross-country caravan of anti-drug-violence pilgrims will hold a vigil Friday night at a San Antonio church to mourn victims of Mexico's drug war and focus on what they say are its root causes: American drug consumption, cross-border weapons trafficking, money laundering and U.S. aid to Mexico's army. The Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity, formed by Mexican activists affected by the war, are on a U.S. tour that started in San Diego, Calif., and will culminate in Washington, D.C., next month, trying to raise a sense of shared responsibility for a conflict that has claimed an estimated 70,000 lives since 2006. [continues 370 words]
ALAMO - Tears came down the face of Alma Estrada as she recalled the call she received two years ago telling her that gunmen had kidnapped her brother. His fate remains a mystery. Estrada, a lifelong Alamo resident, shared the story of her brother, Roberto Banda, 40, who worked as a road builder in Soto La Marina, Tamps., before his disappearance. Tales of desperation like Estrada's were shared by the various members of the Caravan for Peace movement, which made a stop Thursday afternoon in the Rio Grande Valley along its way to Washington, D.C. [continues 745 words]
Having just finished Beto O'Rourke's and Susie Byrd's book, "Dealing Death and Drugs," I feel compelled to encourage anyone who has ever questioned, or even briefly considered the 40-year "War on Drugs" begun by Richard Nixon in 1971, to please take the time to read this well-reasoned, excellently researched non-inflammatory analysis of the history of marijuana use and prohibition in the United States. The book is a much-needed addition to the public discourse on this crucial subject. Richard Schuyler Central El Paso [end]
Inside Texas
