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Lisa Ling, the journalist who brought us “Marijuana Nation” now brings us “Narco State“, a look at how the Mexican drug war is fueled by American demand for marijuana and how that is affecting cities like Phoenix, Arizona, now the 2nd-worst city for kidnappings in the world (Mexico City is #1).
Catch the episode on the National Geographic channel on cable or satellite this Sunday at 8pm.
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Aerion Six: If you combine fuel and air, compressed, and then powdered flint, the bullet will certainly work... 
Ed: Actually the more I think about it… This seems like the Marilyn Manson argument… Marilyn Manson is... Ed: Good to know if something like this is real or not. Is something like this real? No one really... 
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or just go here http://tinyurl.com/y8ef2vb
Lisa Ling answered questions live during the show. I got her to aswere 4 of my questions. 4/20(denoted with *) question ironically :). Its always nice when we get some national attention on this here is what questions she chose to answere:
Viewer Question: Would you be willing to go back to Juarez in the future?
Lisa: Yes, I would go to Juarez. I have hope that things will get better one day.
Viewer Question: Have you embedded yourself with a law enforcement agency before? If so, how was Phoenix’s police department different/similar?
Lisa: Yes, I have embedded before. The HIKE team is first rate, they solve so many of their investigations.
Viewer Question: How long were you with the Phoenix police?
Lisa: I made several trips throughout the course of a month.
Viewer Question: What can the average citizen do to help prevent this increasing problem of drug-related kidnappings in the U.S. ?
Lisa: Work on stemming consumption. It’s the only way.
*Viewer Question: When the Natgeo team was in Mexico did they get a feel as to how the population felt about drug or at least Cannabis Legalization to help eliminate the violence? (Since this is a parallel situation to Americas Alcohol prohibition it may have similar effects.)
Lisa: We at least should start opening up the dialogue. Our drug wars on multiple continents doesn’t seem to be working.
Viewer Question: Please tell me how to verify your statement that the guns involved in this tragic documentary are coming from the United States. I’m not a nut but I want to verify what I hear because this is such a volatile topic in my community.
Lisa: The majority of weapons seized from drug traffickers by Mexican authorities indicate they are from the U.S.
Viewer Question: How can a citizen of Phoenix (and elsewhere) prevent falling victim to a drug-related kidnapping?
Lisa: The kidnappings in phoenix are targeted; almost all of the victims are involved somehow. Ordinary citizens should not be afraid, Phoenix is otherwise a very safe city.
Viewer Question: Are there other cities that have this kidnapping issue? Or is it mostly Phoenix?
Lisa: Some border towns in the U.S are having problems, but Phoenix has been dealt the severest blow as far as targeted kidnappings are concerned.
Viewer Question: During the filming of “Narco State,” did you train and/or carry a weapon due to the possible dangers?
Lisa: No, never.
*Viewer Question: I’ve heard Cartels target minors many times to be used as storefronts/distributors since the laws are less strict on them. Is this consistent with what you experienced down there?
Lisa: Minors are targeted for many reasons. Many don’t have records yet and provide an inconspicuous front for drug operations.
Viewer Question: Do you think a fence or wall would help this situation at all? Something has to be done about this! No more Mr Nice Guy, U.S.!
Lisa: We can build a 200 foot wall and drugs will still get here as long as we maintain our insatiable appetite for drugs.
*Viewer Question: Also is it true that many unwilling participants are forced into cartel service through Plata o Plomo (silver or lead) tactics used by the cartels?
Lisa: Cartels are downright unscrupulous and will do anything to get their product to the U.S.
Viewer Question: Lisa, how much cooperation is there between the US and Mexican governments? How would you characterize the relationship between the two countries when it comes to the issue of drug trafficking?
Lisa: The U.S. partially funds Mexico’s war. Corruption is rampant in Mexico.
Viewer Question: What happens if the ransoms are not paid for drug-related kidnapping victims?
Lisa: The victim can be killed.
Viewer Question: You say consumption, I am a certified substance abuse counselor in Hawaii, With the recession on now, why do our politicians cut money from existing treatment programs?
Lisa: It makes no sense at all. As you know, providing treatment would cost a fraction of what it costs to fight these wars.
Viewer Question: So, I see earlier you made a comment about consumption needing to be stemmed to stop this all out drug war. What about legalized drug use in the USA ? Do you think that would stop the flow of illegal drugs for $$$ ?
Lisa: I can’t offer an opinion about that, but I do think the dialogue needs to be opened up. What we’re doing now is not working.
*Viewer Question: Thanks for taking time to answer our questions. Does law enforcement you have spoken with have any “benchmarks” that they are trying to attain in order to let the American people know when they are making headway on this issue?
Lisa: Well the hike team is very successful at solving their investigations. But in terms of benchmarks, I don’t know if they exist. Drugs are flowing into the U.S. as heavily as ever.
Viewer Question: What do our law enforcement officials do with all of the seized narcotics? Who oversees this process to ensure it is all accounted for and destroyed (hopefully)?
Lisa: It is meticulously warehoused and then destroyed.
Viewer Question: Lisa, I think the correct approach to stem consumption is a three pronged approach. Law enforcement, Substance Abuse treatment and lastly education of our children. How can you stress this more?
Lisa: I think we need to open the discussion about allocating monies toward stemming consumption and treatment over continuing to militarize the problem.
Viewer Question: Guns recovered by Mexican authorities – have the serial numbers been traced to the source of origin? And, of the guns captured, are serial numbers available? Millions of these guns were guns that were originally sold to the Mexican military (the Mexican government) and sold on the black market. Why did you not mention this in the special. You make it sound like American dealers are at fault when the large majority of guns used are black market guns bought & sold within Mexico.
Lisa: We can account for the weapons sold to the military. Somehow the ones that are seized from the narco traffickers made it to them in the first place.
Here’s Lisa promoting the show on Fox news. http://tinyurl.com/yc6cq36 I wish Bill O would have been there when Lisa said its the war on drugs that fuels the violence.
Hell of a Video. I live about 30 miles from that area they were shooting. It’s not a good part of town to be out on at night. End prohibition, and perhaps it will make it easier for the local residents to rebuild their area. I marked my Calendar as well. Thanks Russ
I’ll have to set my reminder on the boob tube. NatGeo is a great channel.