Exports booming in at least one sector

Another reminder in the Times today that irrational drug policy and illegal guns are two of America's biggest exports, and together, they produce disastrous results in Latin America and the Caribbean. It's amazing to me that Trinis spend time whinging about the supposed threat of deportees (who commit a vanishingly small percentage of our crime), but continue to support drug prohibition, and are pretty silent about the guns coming in from Miami and such.

I wonder if anyone will ask Obama about America's destructive drug policy at the Summit, rather than focusing everything on Cuba? Don't get me wrong, I think US Cuba policy is terrible, but I also think the impact on say, Trinidad, of lifting the embargo will be limited (if not slightly negative, since Cuba will become competition for outsourcing and tourists). To be honest, the talk about Cuba strikes me as a lot of grandstanding — it's a very easy way to look like you are "standing up" to the powerful Americans. A more cynical person than me might even think that that's why the embargo is still around – it gives both American and Latin politicians a nice punching bag to exploit.

In any case, a rational conversation about drug policy in our hemisphere would be nice. I'm not going to hold my breath.

Posted via email from clubsodaandsalt’s posterous