Pretty much this... If drugs were legalized in the US, the cartels would lose their flow of cash, and they would either be forced to stop fighting the Mexican government, or turn to legitimate business which would eliminate the need for violence. Then, people would be less likely to cross the border to the US illegally, because they aren't being butchered by the cartels.

Honestly, the "border war" could be won in a very short period of time if both countries were serious about solving it ...

While it would be (nearly) impossible to prevent all border crossings, if both countries cracked down on it they would (probably) be able to catch 66% to 75% of people trying to cross the border which would discourage 66% to 75% of people from trying to cross the border; resulting in less than 10% as many people, guns and illegal drugs crossing the border.

At 10% of the volume, cartels would be forced to change strategy or go out of business; and the tensions surrounding the border would go away.

Tobacco is a legal product and has a thriving black market that funds organized crime ...

Where? In the US, I thought that was because some places have higher taxes on it, so there's a lot of profit to be made smuggling it between states. And what I meant was that as far as I can tell, the drugs being illegal is making the problem as bad as it is, and legalizing them would greatly reduce the problem. By at least providing a legitimate source for people to get these drugs from, you would be cutting off a huge part of the money the drug cartels make.

That would hurt their ability to wage war, and if they aren't out in the streets killing everyone, people would be less likely to flee the country. They would probably turn to some other illegal activity, but I haven't heard of any black market tobacco operations causing this many problems here in the US. (I also don't know much about them at all, so I could very well be wrong).

My point wasn't to say that everything would be solved and we'd all be happy, but that I think the largest contributing factor to the problems with the US/Mexico border is the war on drugs. I'm not an expert on the subject by any means, but I don't see another reason why it is so bad.

Sounds like a good reason for stronger border patrol and a wall.

To bad that will be called racist.

It's stop the guns anyway.

Drugs you can't really stop considering their profit margins.

Also, the synthetic drugs i'd think would INCREASE a push for Marijuana.

The fake Marijuana that is sold is more harmful then the real shit, and you can't stop the sale of the fake stuff, because they can just change the chemical makeup slightly and it's no longer illegal.

It's illegal to smoke marijuana and drive now.

It's a much higher penalty then being arrested for marijuana, it's treated like a DUI. 

As for Meth, I believe most meth is locally produced.

Also, K2 isn't actually pot.  It's fake pot made with a bunch of stuff that's worse then pot, but legal because it can't really be classified.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_cannabis

wrong thread

Well, that's because the taxes on tobacco products are so high that black market products are still relatively cheap. New policies that are being introduced (plain packaging, for example), make the problem even worse as there is going to be less of a distinction between legal and illegal cigarettes.

Not that I think there should be "legal" and "illegal" cigarettes, maybe the term "legitimate" is better.

Ending the war on drugs is only part of the problem. It's a major part, sure, and you can't solve the border issue without it, but other things will need to change to also sort the problem.

- Welfare programs need to end. Welfare programs discourage the local population from work, as such, the domestic population demands higher wages, so much so that it might price them out of the market. Some employers (such as farmers) have no choice BUT to hire illegals. This is evident in Alabama, where a recent crack down on illegal immigration has lead to a reduction in the number of farms.

- On the other side of the coin, the minimum wage needs to be eliminated, particularly at the Federal level. The minimum wage is so high that it, too, prices domestic labourers out of the market - even those who would choose to work at such low levels of wage. At State level, the States with higher agriculture/illegal population could lower their minimum wages to help solve the problem, if they don't want to eliminate entirely.

- Legal immigration needs to be easier. At the end of the day, even with the War on Drugs solved, the minimum wage reduced/eliminated, and welfare gone, many Mexicans will still find more opportunities in the USA than in Mexico. They should be allowed to cross that border, and work, legally. Immigrants benefit the domestic economy, boost consumption, and create more jobs than they take up. Legal immigrants will be far less likely to commit other crimes than illegals, and (to give the Statist's argument), help fill up the tax coffers. Most objections to legal immigration are based on a misunderstanding of the facts.