Thousands of Mexicans march to protest drug war

Source: Reuters

Thousands of Mexicans on Sunday marched into the capital city to protest the wave of killing that has claimed 38,000 lives since President Felipe Calderon launched his war on drug gangs in late 2006.

Demonstrators, many wearing white and walking in silence, held up placards that read "Not a single more death," "Enough already" and "No more bloodshed."

Local media said the march was some 20,000 strong as it closed in on Mexico's huge Zocolo central square.

"We've come from San Juan Copala (in Oaxaca state), seeking peace, because we're also suffering violence and injustice," said Mariana, a 21-year-old from the Triqui tribe, wearing indigenous clothing.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/08/us-mexico-march-idUSTRE74729020110508

Is all this suffering and violence really necessary for a weed that grows up through the cracks in a sidewalk?

We grow better Weed right here at home

you really need to be careful at political rallies. Especially if you look like a gringo.

Very poor turnout

I'm afraid it's to the point that even if drugs were legalized here, the 'Cartels' would still keep on killing off their
competition as well as innocent by-standers...

Calderon is not considered the legitimate president by anyone in Mexico, including the people who actually voted for him. Everyone knows the election was hijacked.

the way you say. Do you have something to back that up?

The murder and mayhem that the U.S. "war on drugs" brings to the unfortunate countries that let it in, softens the country up for militarism and fascism, U.S. military bases and U.S. "free trade for the rich." Enough bloodshed and then the middle class and even the poor--not just the rich--approve "law and order" measures and candidates that they would not otherwise approve, and those who don't are murdered or marginalized.

And the cocaine just keeps on flowing.

That's what our $7 BILLION in military aid to Colombia has netted. Thousands of murdered trade unionists, teachers, community activists, human rights workers, journalists and others, and the displacement of five MILLION peasants from their small farms, by state terror; a society poisoned with militarism and fascism, in which drug trafficking is not only endemic, it is embedded in the political establishment.

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A committee of the former presidents of Mexico recommended legalizing marijuana and re-thinking the entire "war on drugs." And this is why. It does NOT do what it is advertised to do because the billions and billions of dollars--our tax dollars--poured into it are NOT intended to stop drug trafficking. They are a backup gravy train for war profiteers and a means of political control.

The U.S. "war on drugs" is corrupt beyond belief. It is an utterly failed policy. And it is lethal to democracy.