Tuesday, October 18, 2011

The Texas Miracle - Dope Smuggling

We now know why Rick Perry thinks making pot legal may not be the best idea for Texas. The Texas economy is dependent on the dope trade.

Before a federal judge sentenced him to 20 years in prison earlier this year, prosecutors established that between 2006 and 2010 Herrera had been a conduit for more than 660 pounds of cocaine flowing from Mexico’s Gulf Cartel into the United States, a key link on a smuggling chain that distributed drugs to Houston, Atlanta, Miami, Chicago and beyond.

For better or worse Herrera pumped a fair amount of money into the Texas economy, which is getting renewed attention because of Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign for the GOP presidential nomination and his proud declaration that his low-tax and low-regulation policies have enabled Texas to weather hard times — the “Texas Miracle.’’

Clearly, drugs were flowing across the Texas border with Mexico long before Perry became governor and will continue long after he’s gone. And drugs do not have the same level of economic impact on Texas as oil and gas, farming and ranching or legitimate trans-border commerce.

But experts who have studied the impact of drug money say it is undeniable that in a tough economy, trafficking has helped boost employment and economic growth in the state’s border regions, from the Rio Grande Valley to Laredo to El Paso.
As William Burroughs is reputed to have said, "Dealing is harder to kick than using".

H/T Drug Policy Forum of Texas

Cross Posted at Classical Values

1 comment:

USMJP.com United States Marijuana Party said...

There are "mafia" type drug gangs world wide - organized crime - in China and Japan and Columbia, South America and in Mexico and the U.S.A. and Russia - etc.

They sell anything that is illegal to whomever will pay for something they can't get any other way.

They take the illegally (one l or two) gotten profits and invest them in legitimate businesses; and they invest them into the political campaigns of candidates whom they will then control.

The employees of the legitimate businesses suffer because their bosses have no moral ethics.

The populations suffer because their leaders are puppets to organized crime.

What to do?

http://wh.gov/gP1

So far I have 2,568 signatures on my petition to End Marijuana Prohibition, and I need about 2,432 more by Oct. 22 deadline.

PLEASE SIGN MY PETITION TO END THE WAR ON DRUGS ( at least on pot).
gP1 at the White House 'We the People' Issues program.