A Forceful Call For Change From El Paso

El Paso, TX is one of the safest cities in the country, but its residents are strongly identified with the human tragedy affecting their Mexican neighbors across the Rio Grande. El Paso shares a metropolitan area with Ciudad Juárez, México, arguably one of the most dangerous cities in the world, where over 4,000 people have been killed in the last couple of years.

This situation is something that the communities of El Paso and Las Cruces, NM want to change. On Monday, politicians, academics, civic and business leaders of both cities will hold an event calling for a “comprehensive revamping of the failed War on Drugs waged by the United States and other countries.” You can read the press release here.

Among other things, they

…advocate, as an important first step in drug reform, the repeal of the ineffective U.S. marijuana drug laws in favor of regulating, controlling and taxing the production, distribution, sale and consumption of marijuana by adults. The sale of marijuana in the U.S. black market contributes 50 to 70 percent of Mexico’s cartel revenues.

Last year the city council of El Paso passed a resolution calling for “an honest, open, national debate on ending the prohibition on narcotics.” Leading figures in the community have come to understand that the only way to tackle drug violence is by legalizing drugs, not by relying on conventional and unrealistic approaches, including tougher enforcement and sealing the border — alternatives that don’t resonate with a community so deeply intertwined with their Mexican neighbors.

As they meet at the White House on Monday, will President Obama and President Felipe Calderón of México hear the call for a change in drug policy coming from El Paso and Las Cruces?