Legalized drugs only way to halt cartels
By Terry Nelson
Posted: 01/11/2009
As a retired federal officer with over three decades of service, many of those years spent fighting America’s “war on drugs,” I was pleased to read that the El Paso City Council unanimously called for a long overdue discussion on the effectiveness of our nation’s drug policies.
You might be surprised that a veteran anti-drug agent would be glad the council specifically said drug legalization should be included in this new national conversation.
But in my view, based on what I saw on both sides of the border over my career, ending drug prohibition is the only sure-fire way to end the cartel violence that is terrorizing El Paso’s sister city of Ciudad Juárez and others across Mexico. (more…)


