Jamaica declares state of emergency as slums erupt

I guess this drug dealer gave lots of money and resources to the poor in Jamaica.

An addiction feeding the poor, sorta like what Pablo Escobar did in Columbia, building schools, play grounds and so on...

uh huh, yeah that's it, turn the criminals into heroes..







yup, guess they did that to provide fertilizer for the flowers in the playgrounds.

Well, I am not trying to turn this criminals into a hero Martin, just stating the obvious.

Many of these criminals give back to the community where they live, not to be benevolent heroes to the people... but rather to buy their silence and cooperation.

An example is Pablo Escobar who spent millions on parks, schools, stadiums, churches and even housing for the poorest of Medellín's inhabitants.

Nevertheless, he killed plenty of police and judges... as well as responsible for many other atrocities.

Today, the Mexican cartels rule or buy that silence and cooperation with fear of murder and torture.

I am not sure why the Jamaican people are marching and defending gangster Christopher Dudus' against extradition to the USA, unless he has somehow helped his people... gave back to the community.

Let the bastards solve their own problems.

Whoa, somebody sounds bitter.

Christopher Coke exports narcotics to the USA, and builds support in his home town with the proceeds of his exploits.

This is not different from many drug runners who don't want to destroy their own communities, and see the rich westerners as global plunderers and have no qualms about getting rich off their habits.

The Jamaican government didn't really care (and if they did, they sure were not interested in showing it), and they allowed this to go on for decades. Now the USA is jumping it with an extradition request. If the USA wants him that bad, perhaps they should pay for the operation.

Putting down riots in slums is extremely expensive business, and governments that face these difficulties avoid the issue like a plague.

Indeed. And let's have the US adopt the death penalty towards domestic American drug dealers and let's deal harshly with self-indulgent drug users instead of treating them like victims.

I'm a capitalist and I will lay the blame squarely on the Americans who demand a supply of drugs from Jamaica & etc.

Put and end to the demand and you will end the problems caused by the suppliers.

That's true, but good luck with that.

It seems to me that a libertarian/capitalist would be all for deregulation of drugs. After all, the only person that gets hurt is the user. I'm sure you rail against the nanny state in other instances, why do you want to tell users how to live/screw up their lives.

Indeed. And let's have the US adopt the death penalty towards domestic American drug dealers and let's deal harshly with self-indulgent drug users instead of treating them like victims.

I'm a capitalist and I will lay the blame squarely on the Americans who demand a supply of drugs from Jamaica & etc.

Put and end to the demand and you will end the problems caused by the suppliers.

What a different tune you chirp now.

A true capitalist, free-market libertarian shouldn't worry about personal drug use, remember, its government over-reach and its infringement on individual rights.

People like to enhance their emotions and state of mind (coffee, alcohol, tobacco etc), just as people tend to discriminate against others.

Are you insinuating that it's government overreach to ban discrimination in private business, but not government overreach to prosecute drug users who indulge in their habits in the privacy of their own homes?

Hmmm...somebody is showing inconsistencies in their ideological thought process.

Mr. Coke appears to have bought himself a country.

We American love to whine about how corrupt Mexican and Jamaican are. Both the Mexicans and Jamaicans concede that they do have a problem with that but they add something very true.

These drug organizations and drug lords exist because Americans will pay an obscene amount of money for illegal drugs. If the demand wasn't there the drug problem would be either. They are right.

The drug problem exists because of the war on drugs. Humans have been getting shitfaced since before they were human, so I'm not sure you can ever eliminate the demand. (You can reduce it, tho.) But the violence and obscene amounts of money to be made exist because drugs are illegal. Legalize and regulate them, and the problem will be reduced. Certainly trying to eliminate the problem by enforcement doesn't seem to have worked out all that well.

It is almost like a scene out of Modern Warfare and prohibition era Chicago.

Those are special forces that have been trained and headed by Scotland Yard. The Jamaican government asked them to help in 2005.

Ode to the drug prohibition, the most disastrous government policy since the alcohol prohibition.

The drug problem exists because of the war on drugs. Humans have been getting shitfaced since before they were human, so I'm not sure you can ever eliminate the demand. (You can reduce it, tho.) But the violence and obscene amounts of money to be made exist because drugs are illegal. Legalize and regulate them, and the problem will be reduced. Certainly trying to eliminate the problem by enforcement doesn't seem to have worked out all that well.

You are right. The Coast Guard and the DEA and the police work very hard to suppress the drug trade but it is about as effective as forming a bucket brigade trying to keep the Titanic afloat when it was sinking. It just is not going to work there is too much to prevent the inevitable.

It would be tough to regulate though.