U.S. to blame for much of Mexican drug violence - Reuters Report

U.S. to blame for much of Mexican drug violence
Wed Mar 25, 2009 11:19pm EDT
By Arshad Mohammed
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - An "insatiable" appetite in the United States for illegal drugs is to blame for much of the violence ripping through Mexico, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday.
Clinton acknowledged the U.S. role in Mexico's vicious drug war as she arrived in Mexico for a two-day visit where she discussed U.S. plans to ramp up security on the border with President Felipe Calderon.
A surge in drug gang killings to 6,300 last year and fears the violence could seep over the border has put Mexico's drug war high on President Barack Obama's agenda, after years of Mexico feeling that Washington was neglecting a joint problem.
"Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade. Our inability to prevent weapons from being illegally smuggled across the border to arm these criminals causes the death of police officers, soldiers and civilians," Clinton told reporters during her flight to Mexico City.
"I feel very strongly we have a co-responsibility."
Clinton said the Obama administration strongly backed Mexico in its fight with the drug cartels and vowed the United States would try to speed up the transfer of drug-fighting equipment promised under a 2007 agreement.
"We will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you ... Our relationship is far greater than any threat," Clinton said at a news conference in Mexico City.
Crushing the drug cartels, who arm themselves with smuggled U.S. weapons and leave slain rivals, sometimes beheaded, in public streets, has become the biggest test of Calderon's presidency as the bloodshed rattles investors and tourists.
Washington on Tuesday said it plans to ramp up border security with a $184 million program to add 360 security agents to border posts and step up searches for smuggled drugs, guns and cash.
The Obama administration plans to provide more than $80 million to buy Black Hawk helicopters to go after drug traffickers, Clinton said.
A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said this would pay for three helicopters. The administration plans to ask the U.S. Congress for $66 million in new funds to pay for them and to find the rest from other programs, he added.
The U.S. steps to tighten border security to try to stem the flow of drugs, arms and cash won praise on Wednesday from the United Nations' top crimefighter, Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.
But Costa said Central American states are "caught in the crossfire" of the drug war and urged wider regional cooperation to halt violence and the flow of "war-grade weapons" ending up in the hands of young urban gang members. [nN25544789]
"We are talking about an arms-trafficking situation that is as bad as the drug-trafficking situation," he told Reuters.
In Washington, Senator Joseph Lieberman said Obama's plans were not enough and he would seek $385 million more from Congress to pay for 1,600 more Customs and Border Patrol agents and bolster law enforcement centers in border areas.
CHALLENGES
Clinton will use her visit to address a trucking dispute with Mexico and long-running trade and immigration issues.
She said the trading partners were making headway on a spat which saw Mexico slam high tariffs on an estimated $2.4 billion worth of U.S. goods after the U.S. Congress ended a pilot program to let Mexican trucks operate in the United States.
"On the trucking dispute, we are working to try to resolve it. We are making progress," she said, adding that she expects Congress will be receptive to the administration's ideas.
Clinton, whose includes a stop in the northern business city of Monterrey on Thursday, said the thorny issues on the table did not mean that U.S.-Mexico relations were in trouble.
Mexico has felt slighted by a delay in the arrival of drug-fighting equipment pledged by former President George W. Bush, as U.S. officials have sought assurances that the aid would not end up in the hands of corrupt officials or police.
The U.S. Congress this month trimmed the amount of drug aid money it will set aside this fiscal year to $300 million from $400 million last year, under a pledge of $1.4 billion to Mexico and Central America over three years.
Since taking office in December 2006, Calderon has spent more than $6.4 billion on his drug war and sent 45,000 troops and federal police to trouble spots around the country.
Mexico has repeatedly said, however, that its efforts will come to nothing if the United States does not clamp down on the smuggling of U.S. guns used in 90 percent of drug crimes south of the border.
Clinton described the violence Mexico is grappling with as "horrendous" and said cartels were alarmingly well equipped.
"It's not only guns. It's night vision goggles. It's body armor. These criminals are outgunning the law enforcement officials," she said. "When you go into a gun fight, where you are trying to round up bad guys and they have ... military style equipment that is much better than yours, you start out at a disadvantage."
(Additional reporting by Catherine Bremer in Mexico and Pascal Fletcher in Miami; Editing by Anthony Boadle)

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Drug Addiction - How a Person Becomes a Drug Addict - What is Drug Addiction?

Drug Addiction: Many people have struggled with it, either in themselves or in someone they know.

But what is drug addiction? How does someone start off using drugs, only to become a full-blown drug addict?

While there are many theories regarding the exact mechanics of drug addiction, our experience has shown that addiction can be categorized into two parts - physical addiction and mental addiction.

The physical addiction occurs when the person cannot physically function in a normal manner without the drug.

The mental addiction occurs because the person cannot face the circumstances in which they find themselves, and use the drugs to obscure their present situation.
Drug Addiction Pattern

Whether talking about any drug addiction: alcohol addiction, cocaine addiction, methamphetamine addiction, or even heroin addiction, the pattern is the same:

The person tries to escape some physical or emotional pain by taking drugs. This could be a physical or emotional pain, or the discomfort of boredom, peer pressure, lack of social skills.

The person finds that the drugs offer temporary relief, so continues to abuse them. When the person uses the drugs it seems to handle their immediate problem.

With continued use of the drug, the body's ability to produce certain chemicals is diminished because these chemicals are replaced by the drug. The body uses the drug as a substitute for it's own natural chemicals.

Deprived of it's own resources (and the ability to create them the body perceives that it needs the drug to function and demands the drug, through physical cravings. The cravings are a way of making the person get more drugs to be able to function at all.

Drug cravings become so severe that the addict will do almost anything (in many cases, abandoning all previous moral teachings) to get more of the drug. People who are addicted will find themselves doing things they would never have contemplated before.
Drug Addiction - Addict in trouble

The addict commits misdeeds against family, friends, and themselves to satisfy unrelenting cravings. These misdeeds include lying, stealing, cheating, anything to get the drugs to satisfy the drug cravings.

Because of these misdeeds, the addict cannot face him or herself and dives deeper into drugs. The person is now entrapped in full blown drug addiction.

Waiting won't help a drug addict. No matter what they say, if they haven't quit using drugs by now, they won't, without help. Don't wait.


Intentions Of a Drug Addict

Why can't they just stop using drugs? Don't they know this is ruining their lives? Why can't they see what it's doing to them?

No one intends to become addicted to drugs or alcohol. Unfortunately many of us do. Drug addicts don't become addicted with the intention to destroy their lives and to cause upset to those they love. These conditions are the by-product of drug addiction. The drug addict lies to everyone, things start missing around the house, and the dishonesty conveyed is proportionate to the severity of the addiction. These things are apparent to those living with an addict.

Our experiences show that the drug addict or alcoholic is usually an intelligent and most often creative person with much hope for the future. This only adds to the calamity of their downfall. As the addict slips down the spiral, their loved ones try to deny the problem exists, sometimes for years. This is a part of the vicious cycle of drug addiction.

Nature of Drugs: The Source of Addiction

Drugs are essentially pain-killers. They cover up emotional and physical pain, providing the user with a temporary and illusionary escape from life. When a person is unable to cope with some aspect of their reality and is introduced to drugs, they feel they have perhaps solved the problem itself. The more a person uses drugs or alcohol, the more inflated the problem becomes. More problems are created by their use.

This becomes the center of their focus. Soon enough the person feels the need to use consistently, and will do anything to get high. Narconon understand the reason why someone becomes an addict. We know why it so difficult to get off drugs and stay off them. We understand the reason, and thus, we have the solution to drug addiction.

But what are drug cravings? How does someone deal with drug cravings?

What must be understood is the bio-chemical aspects of addiction and the fact that something called "metabolites" are produced after taking a drug and are stored in the body long after one has stopped using drugs. Metabolites are a powerful source and reason for cravings. They are a key in the riddle of why addicts who stop using the drug revert to using them again. These metabolites are formed and act as a substitute for natural body chemicals. As an addict's own natural chemicals deplete as a result of drug use, these metabolites begin to function as a substitute and a very poor one indeed!

Drug Addiction - Homeless addict
The body becomes by-passed in producing its own chemicals and begins to rely on these metabolites to play vital roles related to mental and physical well-being. Now, when the drug addict attempts to stop using these drugs, the body, damaged and depleted of its own natural body chemicals will demand more of the drug to produce metabolites. And hence, the person is caught in a trap in which the extreme discomfort of being without the drug, mentally and physically. The cravings seem insurmountable to the addict.

These drug cravings are so intense and uncomfortable that it induces the addict to commit acts such as stealing from one's own family in order to get the drug. The addict does things that he normally wouldn't do, were he not addicted. These misdeeds make it even more difficult for the addict to face and confront the situation. The drug addict's sense of self worth and respect are reduced to a state of complete confusion. Introversion occurs, and the addict's sense of self reduces further. This perpetuates his desire for more drugs. Physically, the person feels hopelessly drug addicted.

Faced with the penalty of extreme discomfort, stopping drug abuse seems impossible. Emotionally, the addict is ruthlessly robbed of his sense of self worth.

The drug addict is caught in a trap. It is a trap that appears inescapable unless an effective drug addiction treatment handles the condition. That means both the metabolites are flushed clean from the body and that the person's self-worth and identity is rehabilitated through effective social education.