EL PASO, Texas -- What started out as an innocent resolution supporting El Paso's sister city Juarez has sparked a national debate about the U.S. war on drugs.

As KFOX reported, Mayor John Cook vetoed the resolution last week after Rep. Beto O'Rourke added a line about opening up a debate about drug legalization.

The line O'Rourke added simply said the city would support an honest, open national debate on ending the prohibition on narcotics. It was that line that triggered Cook's veto, and on Tuesday, El Paso City Council will go at it over if that veto should stand.

Terry Nelson, who spent three decades fighting the war on drugs with Border Patrol, U.S. Customs, and Homeland Security, supports ending that very war. He's a board member for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, or LEAP.

"We think the system is broken, needs to be fixed," Nelson told KFOX.

Nelson came to El Paso to stand behind O'Rourke, and he believes O'Rourke is being reasonable when it comes to talking about the issue.

"Any policy that is not working needs to be changed, or at least we need to be discussing alternatives to this failure that we are currently living under," said Nelson.

Nelson said he has two children of his own, and would never encourage or condone drug use. He just believes it is time to have a nationwide discussion on legalizing drugs.

Nelson also said he is certain that ending the prohibition on drugs would help Juarez.

"Legalizing drugs will in my opinion would reduce almost 80 percent of the crime and violence, because about that much of it is in the distribution and marketing chain of drugs," he said.

"That's going to, you are going to have more drug addicts everywhere, people smoking pot on the streets and stuff, so that's not good for the kids," said Carlos Trevizo, who lives less than half a mile from the border.

Trevizo said when it comes to the violence in Juarez, legalizing drugs won't change a thing.

"That's going to continue the same, no matter what, so I don't think it will make a big difference on that," he said.