Going Green? Go All The Way

Legalize pot to diminish an aspect the drug trade in Mexico? David Sirota's opinion at Salon:

Every American concerned about Mexico's security problems should be thankful that the cartels are so dependent on marijuana and not a genuinely hazardous substance like heroin. Why? Because that means through pot legalization, we can bring the marijuana trade out of the shadows and into the safety of the regulated economy, consequently eliminating the black market that the cartels rely on. And here's the best part: We can do so without fearing any more negative consequences than we already tolerate in our keg-party culture.

That's eliminating a violent $9 billion dollar a year "import industry" and consolidating it with a $36 billion dollar domestic industry--all of which becomes new money the United States can add to its coffers. Though that may still be a while off, at least as Sirota suggests, we're heading in the right direction.