4 ms·

What can I do as an individual to see less of this stuff happen?

intricatedetail 6y ago
Lobby your local gov rep to legalise drug trade. It's main source of funding for these groups and allows them to buy influence. Without that stream of money it will be much harder to corrupt police and politicians.
lumberjack 6y ago
Don't buy drugs off the street or promote their use.
- jgwil2 6y ago
  To be clear this depends on the drug. Cocaine and heroin are blood-soaked; cannabis, LSD or psychedelic mushrooms not so much. MDMA is probably somewhere in between.
  - throw_m239339 6y ago
    Cartels also deal Cannabis. In Europe, money from Cannabis traffic is then used to set up logistics for bigger operations, like bank heists, prostitution rings, human trafficking and terrorism, and lets not get started about gangs that kill each other and innocent victims when fighting for territory. Illegal Cannabis is as tainted as Cocaine or heroine. That's why it needs to be legalized. Legalization will weaken organized crime.
    - CyberDildonics 6y ago
      I'm surprised they are so into human trafficking and bank heists that they do it at a loss and let it eat into their weed money.
vsskanth 6y ago
Support reps that introduce laws to legalize and regulate hard drugs. Decriminalize addiction. Donate to causes that help addicts and prevent new ones.
TedShiller 6y ago
Don’t use drugs
nojokes 6y ago
Promote real solutions https://www.nytimes.com/1976/03/28/archives/italy-confiscating-ransoms-to-deter-kidnappers.html https://www.nytimes.com/1976/03/28/archives/italy-confiscati...
lsiebert 6y ago
I'm not sure about you specifically, but these are financially motivated crimes, and generally reducing poverty dramatically reduces crime.
iamkroot 6y ago
Beg your politicians to support open borders, so that the individuals who live in these countries have the freedom to leave them.
- rational_indian 6y ago
  This is going to backfire spectacularly. There is no filter which can isolate the good from the bad. If you let the flood gates open the scum will come in too.
- hombre_fatal 6y ago
  That just imports the problem at a faster rate. Even Merkel realizes she turned a migrant challenge into a migrant crisis with open borders. It also spreads the nonsense that there’s nowhere safe in Mexico. I skimmed the article and saw she lived in Tamaulipas. No reason that moving to the US should come before moving to a safer state in Mexico like where I live or where any expat chooses to spend their time.
smabie 6y ago
Don't open your eyes?
sam_goody 6y ago
Move to a community that is on the edge (not hopelessly gone like in the article, but low income). Take a few youth as projects and start working with them, improving their lives. Donate to existing youth groups. In our community, all crime has dropped tremendously since we started, and many youths now have purpose to their lives that will (hopefully) keep them from ever joining such groups. And, importantly, don't forget your own kids. Keep an eye on their friends when growing up, make sure you spend the time to keep a good relationship with them. If everyone in Central America consciously worked to raise their kids to be better people, and each also took two or three less fortunate kids as projects, it would show. (I am sure plenty do, but we need more working to improve the world!)

Lobby your local gov rep to legalise drug trade. It's main source of funding for these groups and allows them to buy influence. Without that stream of money it will be much harder to corrupt police and politicians.

lumberjack 6y ago

Don't buy drugs off the street or promote their use.

jgwil2 6y ago
To be clear this depends on the drug. Cocaine and heroin are blood-soaked; cannabis, LSD or psychedelic mushrooms not so much. MDMA is probably somewhere in between.
- throw_m239339 6y ago
  Cartels also deal Cannabis. In Europe, money from Cannabis traffic is then used to set up logistics for bigger operations, like bank heists, prostitution rings, human trafficking and terrorism, and lets not get started about gangs that kill each other and innocent victims when fighting for territory. Illegal Cannabis is as tainted as Cocaine or heroine. That's why it needs to be legalized. Legalization will weaken organized crime.
  - CyberDildonics 6y ago
    I'm surprised they are so into human trafficking and bank heists that they do it at a loss and let it eat into their weed money.

vsskanth 6y ago

Support reps that introduce laws to legalize and regulate hard drugs. Decriminalize addiction. Donate to causes that help addicts and prevent new ones.

TedShiller 6y ago

Don’t use drugs

nojokes 6y ago

Promote real solutions https://www.nytimes.com/1976/03/28/archives/italy-confiscating-ransoms-to-deter-kidnappers.html https://www.nytimes.com/1976/03/28/archives/italy-confiscati...

lsiebert 6y ago

I'm not sure about you specifically, but these are financially motivated crimes, and generally reducing poverty dramatically reduces crime.

iamkroot 6y ago

Beg your politicians to support open borders, so that the individuals who live in these countries have the freedom to leave them.

rational_indian 6y ago
This is going to backfire spectacularly. There is no filter which can isolate the good from the bad. If you let the flood gates open the scum will come in too.
hombre_fatal 6y ago
That just imports the problem at a faster rate. Even Merkel realizes she turned a migrant challenge into a migrant crisis with open borders. It also spreads the nonsense that there’s nowhere safe in Mexico. I skimmed the article and saw she lived in Tamaulipas. No reason that moving to the US should come before moving to a safer state in Mexico like where I live or where any expat chooses to spend their time.

smabie 6y ago

Don't open your eyes?

sam_goody 6y ago

Move to a community that is on the edge (not hopelessly gone like in the article, but low income). Take a few youth as projects and start working with them, improving their lives. Donate to existing youth groups. In our community, all crime has dropped tremendously since we started, and many youths now have purpose to their lives that will (hopefully) keep them from ever joining such groups. And, importantly, don't forget your own kids. Keep an eye on their friends when growing up, make sure you spend the time to keep a good relationship with them. If everyone in Central America consciously worked to raise their kids to be better people, and each also took two or three less fortunate kids as projects, it would show. (I am sure plenty do, but we need more working to improve the world!)