Page 10 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • October 15, 2014 The two-way invasion How many dead does it take to turn an incursion into an invasion? Are 15,000 dead citizens enough to qualify as a war with a degree of foreign instigation, or do we need 50,000? Some American experts assert that 15,000 citizens of Mexico and several Central American countries were killed in drug wars -- fought to either export drugs to the United States or to prevent their export -- and that a possible figure of 50,000 dead looms in the future if nothing is done on our side of the border. U-Boats are sailing for North America again! A docu- mentary showed examples of one-trip semi-submersible submarines the size of an oil truck where only the con- ning tower stuck up from the surface of the sea, shortly augmented by a midget fully-submersible that could have been built in Hamburg or Wilhelmshaven, except that Central American informers said the submarine’s design- ers and construction engineers were well-paid Americans. The fully-submersible submarine -- designed to smuggle tons of cocaine from South America to the periphery of the United States -- reportedly cost $2 million to build, but paid for itself in a single trip. Somebody must have scuttled it in rather shallow water after a few more lucrative trips because it is now on display, like the captured U-505 now on display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. The U-505 and the submersible cocaine submarine were designed for war. The new war, however, is not being fought by the Mexi- can government, which considers the international drug trade an embarrassment. Mexican forces earn a large per- centage of the millions of dollars the United States sends them and some Mexicans earn it the hard way. A detach- ment of Mexican Marines cornered a desperado drug lord and shot it out with him and his bodyguards. At the end of the battle, the Mexican drug lord was dead. One of the Mexican Marines was recognized and some of the drug lord’s buddies paid a visit to his house and murdered his wife, mother, and aunt. These people were vicious criminals -- but they make a lot of money in a very poor country and throw a lot of it around. Given the track record of the United States in deal- ing with Mexico -- a declared invasion in 1846 followed by the land grab that got us a third of our own country, mis- treatment of Mexicans in the Southwest, and an undeclared invasion in 1917 -- you would be surprised to know how many Mexicans do not care whether we like them. The Mexicans, however, do not like to have their rela- tives murdered because brave sons choose to join the mili- tary or the police instead of smuggling drugs for 100 times the money. Every drug now causing political violence in Mexico -- and street violence in the cities of the United States -- once had a useful purpose. The ancient Greeks used opiates as pain-killers and apparently for court-ordered suicides. Socrates was described poetically as having “drunk the hemlock” when a majority of those wonderful Athenians who invented democracy sentenced him to death for being too smart. Hemlock induces frightful convulsions and the smart money holds that either Socrates took a massive dose of opiates or Plato smoothed over the death scene in “Phaedo.” Roman gladiators ingested powdered cannabis for their nervous digestive problems. The prospect of getting killed in the arena has been known to ruin one’s appetite. The Chinese also used medical hemp juice. Only when canna- bis was smoked in pipes, a habit learned much later from American Indians, did the hemp plant become celebrated for inducing euphoria. Morphine, first derived from opium in England in 1804, was a major benefit to surgeons for post-operative pain until some post-operative patients because addicted. Bohemian types began to use morphine for jags or for suicide. Once the hypodermic needle was patented in 1827, morphine became a battlefield pain-killer and probably saved thou- sands of soldiers and accident victims from dying due to the shock of amputation. Sadly, some of these people also became addicted. In Victorian times, morphine addiction was known as “the soldier’s sickness.” Drugs stores sold morphine without prescriptions and there were Civil War addicts on sustained dosages for 40 to 50 years after the war ended. They caused no crimes. The stuff was cheaper than beer. In 1898, a German firm -- Bayer, a year later the producer of aspirin -- synthesized heroin from morphine. Heroin was faster-acting and more powerful than morphine but it was legal and affordable, popular with prostitutes and jazz musi- cians, and not a health problem to the community at large. The crime problem started as the narcotics became ille- gal, and thus expensive. San Francisco criminalized opium in 1876 under the dubious claim that Chinese were using opium dens to seduce white women. The whole thing was a racist frame-up. Expanding out of Chinatown, the enforcement against derived opiates covered the United States where by 1914 “illegal possession” of heroin or morphine became a crime and criminalized 10,000 physicians who prescribed it for kicks. Prohibition of alcohol followed in 1920, turning orga- nized crime from a few outposts of immigrant kidnappers and labor extortionists to America’s third political party. When Prohibition was repealed, the various crime groups latched on to heroin as an alternative. The profits to be made importing and retailing heroin require some daring, no particular education, a willingness to see other people get hurt or hurt them yourself, and a knowledge of who is negligent or on the take. Note the shift: When admittedly harmful drugs were not illegal and could be purchased at what were then called “drug stores,” the addicts were marginalized in society and may have died prematurely, but there were no massive crime waves, no stray bullets hitting pedestrians, and no honest police officers being murdered because they were too honest for their own safety. The average Civil War multiple amputee was not going to hold down a full-time job and he had every right to his euphoria. Many thousands of people, Chinese and white, smoked opium in the 19th century and only the very rich who had no jobs and the mentally troubled became addicts. The Chinese workers on the Central Pacific railroad knocked off one or two pipes a week, dreamed of the girls at home and Mom and Pop, and produced prodigies of hard work. Jack London smoked opium, but it was whis- key and rare red meat that killed him at 40. Coleridge used opium and brandy, but died of a heart attack at 62. Thomas De Quincy used opium sparingly for medical problems and lived to be 74. None of them had to run out and rob banks or steal peoples’ television sets, because the opium they used was cheap because it was not illegal. Was this better or worse than inflicting 15,000 deaths on Mexico and opening a sluice for graft in some American cities? Perhaps if the government set up street clinics where addicts could be shown films about the metabolic conse- quences of opiates, which can actually kill people when taken by hypodermic, and were when given a maintenance dose for free on premises, with no take-out, the government could undercut the dealers and the pushers, keep the spray of bullets down to a minimum, and reduce the graft. When do we get to vote on this -- and on banning cigarette pro- duction, which causes millions of deaths far more painful than overdoses? This would also cut down on the junkyard submarine construction industry, but some forms of unem- ployment are more justifiable than others. Letters to the Editor Urges support for Susan McGowan Dear Editor: Susan McGowan clearly deserves re-election to the Franklin Lakes School Board, where she has served with distinction as a member and as president. During her tenure, exceptional goals were achieved, including the selection of an excellent candidate to replace the former superintendent, the appointment of an effective principal for High Moun- tain Road School, and the hiring of a competent curriculum director. These were hotly-contested appointments. Sue and other board members should be complimented for guiding the process competently and impartially during this diffi- cult period. Sue’s excellence, hard work, and dedication were rec- ognized by the Bergen County School Board Associa- tion when they honored her with the 2014 Janet Lobsenz Award. We have lived in the borough for over 30 years, have had children and grandchildren attend the public schools, and cannot remember any other board member having impacted the elementary schools in a more positive manner. Lido Puccini Franklin Lakes Wants to re-elect Brian Scanlan Dear Editor: I am writing on behalf of Brian Scanlan and his cam- paign for re-election to the Wyckoff Township Commit- tee. More importantly, I am writing on behalf of the people of Wyckoff, who need to have Mr. Scanlan continue his efforts to improve the township and the lives of everyone who lives here. Since being elected in 2009, Mr. Scanlan has done everything in his power to work with the committee and residents of Wyckoff to make the town a better place to live. Despite being in the minority party, he has served to represent all the people of Wyckoff and offer sensible, alternative views in a township that has a long-standing history of single-party rule. His tireless efforts and willing- ness to serve on many committees and boards pertaining to all parts of town government have been great assets and should not be taken for granted. He has been a vocal advo- cate of preserving open space and environmental issues, serves on the Finance Committee, and has also served on the library and planning boards, among many others. He is also an active volunteer in several other township activities. His knowledge and experience in all phases of Wyckoff’s everyday workings cannot be easily replaced, and in my opinion, should not be. I am asking my fellow residents to once again come out on Nov. 4 and vote to re-elect Brian Scanlan to the Wyckoff Township Committee and continue to give him a role in leading this township forward. Steve Becker Wyckoff Voting for Randy Dixon Dear Editor: I am writing to voice my support for Randy Dixon in his run for a seat on the Franklin Lakes Board of Education. I have known Randy for over eight years, having ini- tially met him while we were both volunteering in our chil- dren’s classroom. He is the devoted father of two children in the Franklin Lakes school system: one at FAMS and one at WAS. Although he has been a successful member of the business community for many years, he has always made it a priority to volunteer in our schools in a very hands-on manner. Randy would be an asset to the Franklin Lakes Board of Education by combining his business experience with his sense of commitment to promote responsible fiscal oversight while still balancing the needs of our students. In addition, I believe that he would foster a collaborative and respectful atmosphere in which to discuss the many chal- lenges that the Franklin Lakes school system faces. I urge you to support Randy Dixon for a seat on the Franklin Lakes Board of Education. Sheila Chandler Franklin Lakes Supporting Peter Koulikourdis Dear Editor: I was very pleased, and somewhat relieved, to hear that my friend and neighbor, Peter Koulikourdis, is a candidate for the Franklin Lakes Board of Education. I have known Peter and his lovely family for more than 10 years. Right (continued on page 20)