Rapid Increase in Population

Millions of caterpillars to eat up coca plants in the Andes? High-accuracy satellites to map Mexico’s pot farms? Is this really what we’ve got our best scientific minds working on? What about ozone depletion? The greenhouse effect? Whole species vanishing inexplicably? Do these phenomena warrant any serious expenditure of scientific resources?

Considering the concern over excessive immigration into the United States from south of the border, it’s interesting to ponder the potential repercussions of wiping out the most significant cash crops in Mexico and the Andean countries. A whole lot of subsistence farmers (and their families) would go from having little to having nothing. America, please be aware that these people aren’t criminals! They’re just trying to survive. How about if we use our American know-how to lend these neighbors a hand instead of slapping them down? After all, it’s in our own best interest.

Who knows, we may accidentally end up “winning” the drug war as a “peace dividend.” If that sounds naive, remember this: The jungles of the Andean countries and Mexico cover vastly greater areas than do those of Vietnam.

JOHN NORRIS

Anaheim