Karan Nixon,

 In Columbia during the 1970's, the number one cause of death for males between the ages of 15 and 50 was murder.  I remember the impact this made on me when I read this fact.  I also remember the first time I read about a US city having the same statistic.....

In Columbia it was because of drugs. The author of the story made one interesting observation. If the U.S. would not buy the drugs then Columbia wouldn't have this problem.  You see the problem isn't the street seller or buyer. The problem is the vast array of "professionals" that profit from massive drug imports into this country.  Many of these "professionals" are banks and financial institutions.

Addicts can be helped with an aggressive program that provides the addiction in a safe environment, much like Seattle has recently offered.  If you take the profit out of illegal drugs you essentially solve the problem.