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The Arizona Straw

 

By John Mayo (D., DeSoto County)

Mississippi House of Representatives

 

June 29,  2010

 

There will be a number of you who will be surprised by what I posted on my Clarion

Ledger blog site.  The C-L printed it in today's hard copy edition.

In the last 11 years I believe I have helped families on an average of one person a week get committed to drug treatment.  Some weeks there are none, others I have had as many as three in one day for multiple days.  I have had parents call crying because sheriff's deputies were in their living room cuffing their teenage daughter.

 And, it was the parents who called to have it done.

This problem got out of hand decades ago, but when the Mexican drug cartel threatens United States cops, the problem is way beyond out of hand.

Here's what I posted.

 

The Arizona Straw

 

Posted 6/26/2010 9:09 AM CDT on www.clarionledger.com

 

There is a straw that breaks the camel's back.

I am not that keen on the new Arizona law.  I believe the answer to undocumented immigrants is to lock up a few employers who hire them.  That sends the message.

These folks are looking for jobs to feed their families and if the jobs were not available, they would not come.

But, when the drug cartel threatens the lives of off-duty cops in Nogales, Arizona, it's time to take the National Guard off the borders, replace them with the 82nd or 101st Air Mobile Divisions, or a Brigade of Rangers there, or company of SEALS or Special Forces, inform Mexico we will pursue, and send a message to the Mexican government we take threats against our police officers seriously.

And, I find it hard to say this, but we ought to take another look at who we arrest in this country.  We do go after the dealers, but like locking up employers who hire undocumenteds, we might look at drying up markets by locking up users in HUGE tents cities.

Either that, or legalize it, tax it, control it.  We have to do one or the other.

The drug trade has escalated to threatening the lives of off duty police officers.  That deserves some sort of response.