Weary of drug war, Mexico debates legalization

[mike r]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100908/wl_mcclatchy/3620921

Weary of drug war, Mexico debates legalization
By Tim Johnson

A debate about legalizing marijuana and possibly other drugs — once a taboo suggestion — is percolating in Mexico, a national exhausted by runaway violence and a deadly drug war.The debate is only likely to grow more animated if Californians approve an initiative on Nov. 2 to legalize marijuana for recreational use in their state. Mexicans are keeping a close eye on the vote, seeing it as a bellwether. "If they vote 'yes' to approve the full legalization of marijuana, I think it will have a radical impact in Mexico," said Jorge Hernandez Tinajero, a political scientist at the National Autonomous University .

Discussion about legalization flew onto the agenda last month, the outcome of President Felipe Calderon's pressing need to win more public support for waging war against criminal organizations profiting hugely from drug trafficking. As he held a series of open forums with politicians and civic leaders about faltering security, Calderon suddenly found himself amid a groundswell of suggestions that legalization — which he described as "absurd" — should be considered.

Among those throwing their weight behind legalization was former President Vicente Fox, a member of Calderon's own conservative National Action Party. "We should consider legalizing the production, distribution and sale of drugs," Fox wrote on his blog during the series of forums. "Legalizing in this sense does not mean that drugs are good or don't hurt those who consume. Rather, we have to see it as a strategy to strike and break the economic structure that allows the mafias to generate huge profits in their business."

Calderon immediately said Mexico couldn't act on its own to legalize. "If drugs are not legalized in the world, or if drugs are not legalized at least in the United States, this is simply absurd, because the price of drugs is not determined in Mexico. The price of drugs is determined by consumers in Los Angeles, or in New York, or in Chicago or Texas," he said...

[Bobbieo]

1. Yes on Prop 19 - it's a start!

[RainDog]

2. kickety

would you mind if I cross posted this in drug policy via my journal? I'm trying to keep track of this issue, just a little bit. I will link to your thread, of course.

[mike r]

3. Not at all

:)

[reggie the dog]

4. imagine the tourists they would get

I go to the netherlands so i can buy cannabis on a menu and not fear getting busted for possession, how many more sprig breakers would go to mexico if they could buy pure MDMA (or cocaine or whatever they were into) over the counter with no fear of getting busted?

[raccoon]

5. Would the Empire north of them "let" them do that? Seems like to me

this has come up before.

That was before there were so many murders in Mexico due to the "drug war."

And Paris Hilton is caught with coke and gets out on bail. :puke:

[Viva_La_Revolution]

6. sloppy reporting.. this is not the first time they've considered this...

bush made them back down.

[BillStein]

7. would it help much

if they legalize drugs, but the USA doesn't? What percentage of their profits comes from sales in Mexico and how much from sales here?