News

Morning Poll: Will Napolitano's "Counternarcotics" Border Strategy Work Better Than Other Drug-War Tactics?

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's heralded announcement this morning in Nogales of a new border strategy that targets drug-smuggling sounds suspicious.

Like one more chapter in America's failed Drug War.

Make that the world's failed drug war. Perhaps the former Arizona governor has no time to read in her highfalutin D.C. job, but last month a 19-member, international panel concluded that drugs should be decriminalized. Here's a quote that received wide coverage:

Political leaders and public figures should have the courage to articulate publicly what many of them acknowledge privately: that the evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that repressive strategies will not solve the drug problem, and that the war on drugs has not, and cannot, be won...

Oh, and all that gun smuggling? Yeah, it's a problem, but one that's not as bad as most people think, with 36 percent or fewer -- as opposed to the 90 percent figure often quoted -- of U.S. guns being found at Mexican crime scenes.

But what the heck -- the border policy hasn't exactly been a screaming success, so why not pair it with something else that's failed: Drug policy. Sure, more people -- including children -- will die in the resulting violence, but it will also help keep our nations prison administrators employed.

Here's your morning poll:

KEEP PHOENIX NEW TIMES FREE... Since we started Phoenix New Times, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Phoenix, and we'd like to keep it that way. With local media under siege, it's more important than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our "I Support" program, allowing us to keep offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food and culture with no paywalls.
Ray Stern has worked as a newspaper reporter in Arizona for more than two decades. He's won numerous awards for his reporting, including the Arizona Press Club's Don Bolles Award for Investigative Journalism.

Latest Stories