Reply #34: I'd like to focus on the 1800 people murdered in 2008 for a minute

[ladym55]

My daughter lives in El Paso and works in Juarez. It's damned scary. She MUST carpool with the attitude "safety in numbers." They have to vary routes, vary times of departure because it's that dangerous. It's a MESS, and as my daughter says, "At least I get to go home to El Paso at night. The people who work with me who live in Juarez live with fear all the time." They have to worry about getting an offer they can't refuse from the cartels.

What is the answer? I think it's far more complicated than legalization, although that could help. What about all the wonderful weapons that are coming from the US to Mexico that are being used to slaughter Mexican citizens? The Mexican government is in total disarray ... their police force has no power to control the cartels.

One other thought ... much of the heroin addiction here in the US began as abuse of prescription painkillers, like OxyContin ... OxyContin becomes TOO expensive to buy, and the user turns to heroin. How do we work with substance abuse and addiction?

The situation in Northern Mexico is deteriorating rapidly, and it is one more place that needs attention because innocent people are suffering.