A troubling alert from the FBI:

The FBI is warning that one of Mexico´s most brutal drug cartels is attempting to violently regain control of drug trafficking routes in the United States and has been ordered to engage law enforcement officers to protect their operations, according to an intelligence report obtained by The Washington Times.

Los Zetas, the enforcer of Mexico´s infamous Gulf Cartel, is reinforcing its ranks and stockpiling weapons in safe houses in the U.S. in response to recent crackdowns in the U.S. and Mexico against drug traffickers, said the FBI San Antonio Field Office's Joint Assessment Bulletin. The bulletin was dated Oct. 17 and was sent to law enforcement officials in the Texas region. [Washington Times]

As difficult as it is to imagine Mexico-level drug trade violence within our borders, it’s a much more likely outcome than, say, winning the drug war. The harder we push, the more bloodshed and disorder awaits us. And just as intolerable levels of violence have invigorated the drug war debate in Mexico, there is no doubt that increased casualties here at home would draw yet more attention to the role of prohibition in funding and sustaining violent organized crime. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.

CJPF President Eric Sterling has a simply fantastic article at Huffington Post illustrating the virtually infinite economic harm caused by drug prohibition and over-incarceration.

I highly recommend reading this, particularly because I often find reformers getting confused about the economics of prohibition. It’s easy to look at the prison guard unions, the small towns with big SWAT teams, the forfeiture-funded drug task forces, etc. and find oneself arguing that the drug war is all about making money. It’s true that drug war profiteering may help explain why certain interests will always shamelessly defend their piece of the prohibition pie. Yet, as Eric helpfully explains, the criminal justice system is hemorrhaging resources on every imaginable level, not only through the cost of maintaining our massive prison population, but also in terms of the lost economic participation of millions of inmates and felons.  

To whatever extent certain individuals and institutions may profit from the war on drugs, they do so at the expense of the economic health of the nation. Educating ourselves and the public about this concept is vital to framing the drug war debate in terms all Americans can relate to.

well, just discovered the site , got a lot of reading ahead of me. Hope to be up to speed fairly quickly.