Recently, Mexican drug lord Joaquin Guzman, commonly known as El Chapo, was sentenced to life in prison. Earlier this year he had been convicted of 53 counts of assorted charges like murder and racketeering, but mostly El Chapo was convicted of being a vendor of assorted products there is a great deal of demand for here in the United States.

A useful question to ask is, did El Chapo’s conviction and sentencing change anything? Has the amount of drugs making their way into our country been impeded? Has our appetite for illegal narcotics abated noticeably, if at all?

No, no and no.

Nothing has changed. Drugs Americans want still cross the border. This means that the violence associated with illegal narcotics, caused solely by America’s infamous war on drugs, will continue, too. Lives will continue to be ended or otherwise destroyed because drugs are illegal. Decriminalize them and their attendant violence goes away. Lives will still be ruined by drug use, of course, but nobody will die because they are illegal, like they are now.

Friends, consider this: is our border with Mexico racked with violence over tequila? Of course not. Why? Because tequila is legal. Producers and importers merely need to find people to sell their product to and arrange to have it imported.

If, like me, you prefer not to use drugs, don’t do them. Just because something is legal does not make it mandatory. When America decriminalizes drugs the attendant violence goes away. Drug lords go from being evil arch-criminals to mere vendors trying to move some product, product there is a great demand for here in the United States.

We deserve better than drug violence. We deserve an America that realizes the drug war has failed and is ready to decriminalize their manufacture, sale and use.

Thank you,
Gaylon