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 Nova
Registered: 10/16/02
Posts: 855
Last seen: 3 days, 18 hours
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 Weary of drug war, Mexico debates legalization 
#13167442 - 09/08/10 10:00 PM (2 years, 8 months ago) |
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100908/wl_mcclatchy/3620921
MEXICO CITY — 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.
Such public debate would have been largely unthinkable a few years ago. Since Calderon came to office in late 2006, however, a national gloom has descended on Mexico from unending cartel violence and a death toll topping 28,000. The grim mood has provided fertile ground for public figures who think that legalization would undercut the power of the drug cartels.
Among them are business tycoons such as billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego , who controls broadcaster TV Azteca, and retailer Grupo Elektra.
With his own pro-legalization statement, Fox aligned with another former president, Ernesto Zedillo , who suggested last year that prohibition isn't working.
Still, several analysts said debate about legalization — coming most strongly from the political left — was an attempt to needle Calderon as much as an exploration of whether legalization is feasible.
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Edgardo Buscaglia , an expert on Mexico's criminal syndicates, said Mexico's government is too weak to legalize and regulate narcotics and marijuana.
"You need to have regulatory capacity in place," he said. " Mexico does not even have the capacity to regulate its pharmaceutical products."
Without a better framework, any move to take away penalties for narcotics would "amount to a subsidy to drug organizations," he said, as prices and demand remain buoyant for illegal narcotics in the U.S. and other countries.
Legislators in August 2009 quietly decriminalized the possession of less than 5 grams of marijuana, the equivalent of about four joints. Tiny amounts of cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, LSD, and methamphetamine also are no longer subject to criminal penalties.
Further measures have been blocked, however, such as one before two committees of the Chamber of Deputies to permit the use of marijuana for medical purposes, as 14 U.S. states allow. Others have been put before the Senate , the legislative assembly of Mexico City and before a local congress in the state of Mexico .
Hernandez Tinajero said he thinks that Mexican society may not be ready for such moves, but that the California initiative on marijuana would impel debate further.
"Whatever the result may be, it will have a positive impact on Mexico ," he said, and give way to a "a far more serious discussion."
Experts said they can't fully weigh arguments about the impact that legalization of marijuana in California might have on this country of 111 million, or whether steps toward legalization here would weaken drug syndicates.
That's because so little is known publicly about the revenue streams of cartels, the extent of production of marijuana, crystal meth and heroin, and the range of revenue from other criminal enterprises.
Counternarcotics officials say several Mexican cartels, particularly the Familia Michoacana, are deeply involved in marijuana production and sales in California .
Alex Kreit , an expert on drug law at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego , said the fallout from Proposition 19, whichever way voters lean, might not be immediate.
Opinion polls show a near toss-up over whether voters will approve or reject it.
If the initiative passes, it would have an impact only in localities that take steps to permit the cultivation, distribution and sale of marijuana, he said.
"If this passes, it doesn't mean that all of a sudden that people who are growing marijuana in large amounts are going to be doing so legally," he said.
If the initiative loses by a large margin, Kreit said, it could "be the death knell" for legalization. If it goes the other way, it could "start to create a feeling of inevitability" in the U.S. and Mexico toward the legalization of marijuana.
"I almost view it as similar to the gay marriage issue. People's views are changing very quickly," Kreit said.
Hernandez Tinajero said any shift in U.S. public opinion would ripple south.
"The basic equation is this: If the United States is changing, why can't we change as well?" he asked.
MORE FROM MCCLATCHY
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Mexico's drug war leaves marijuana growers to thrive
Mexico seizes 'La Barbie,' drug lord famed for beheadings
Why are beheadings so popular with Mexico's drug gangs?
Mexico rethinks drug strategy as death toll soars
Check out this McClatchy blog: Mexico Unmasked
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ninja cat 09
Intergalactic Space Giant
 
Registered: 10/11/09
Posts: 2,770
Loc: 
Last seen: 2 months, 16 days
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Re: Weary of drug war, Mexico debates legalization [Re: Nova]
#13167814 - 09/08/10 11:10 PM (2 years, 8 months ago) |
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The thing is, most Mexicans who are not in Mexico city are quite close minded.
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 gamer4life
Natures Child
Registered: 05/29/10
Posts: 753
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Re: Weary of drug war, Mexico debates legalization [Re: Nova]
#13168075 - 09/09/10 12:03 AM (2 years, 8 months ago) |
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Well maybe the cartels will help the United States legalize all drugs.They do have a point.If the US would legalize all drugs,the cartels would crumble.The tactic I see the US or Mexico would be to legalize drugs,gain control of Mexico and the make them illegal again once control is regained.
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Legalize!
Stop putting our children in prisons.
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blazenn
rawdog the whale.
Registered: 05/13/09
Posts: 4,584
Loc: 
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Re: Weary of drug war, Mexico debates legalization [Re: ninja cat 09]
#13168686 - 09/09/10 03:11 AM (2 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
ninja cat 09 said:
The thing is, most Mexicans who are not in Mexico city are quite close minded.
wtf kind of statement is that?
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wortiesbo
Registered: 03/18/06
Posts: 772
Loc: new vegas
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Re: Weary of drug war, Mexico debates legalization [Re: gamer4life]
#13168768 - 09/09/10 04:05 AM (2 years, 8 months ago) |
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but then the dea, the atf, and the fda wouldnt be able to fund they're drug war!!!!!!
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Green_T
Getting to the chopper
Registered: 10/02/08
Posts: 4,024
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Re: Weary of drug war, Mexico debates legalization [Re: blazenn]
#13169382 - 09/09/10 10:53 AM (2 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
blazenn said:
Quote:
ninja cat 09 said:
The thing is, most Mexicans who are not in Mexico city are quite close minded.
wtf kind of statement is that?
This is actually a fair point. In general, people who are in rural areas are much more socially conservative than those in the cities. This is especially true in less economically developed countries where limited access to internet and TV isolates people even further.
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Liquid_Dimension
Lighthousekeeper
Registered: 02/15/04
Posts: 4,245
Loc: Radioactive state
Last seen: 6 days, 17 hours
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Re: Weary of drug war, Mexico debates legalization [Re: Green_T]
#13169732 - 09/09/10 12:19 PM (2 years, 8 months ago) |
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It took this amount of killings and violence for them to seriously consider legalization. 
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mothballs
Stranger in a strange land
Registered: 04/30/10
Posts: 188
Last seen: 2 months, 1 day
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Re: Weary of drug war, Mexico debates legalization [Re: blazenn]
#13169897 - 09/09/10 01:05 PM (2 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
ninja cat 09 said:
The thing is, most Mexicans who are not in Mexico city are quite close minded.
wtf kind of statement is that?
i live in mexico and it's true...I'm not a racist...my wife and children are mexican though I'm not.
stereotypes dont apply to all people but must apply to a large group or thus wouldn't exist
Mexicans in general resist change...even fear it
on a different note...i hope the legalization of mj in california will force legalization here....i hope Calderon finally throws his hands up and says A LA MADRES! how can we win when its legal there and they're the fucking pricks that want us to keep it illegal
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Society
Pizza Guy
Registered: 07/03/04
Posts: 11,851
Loc: Eating pizza
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Re: Weary of drug war, Mexico debates legalization [Re: mothballs]
#13170002 - 09/09/10 01:26 PM (2 years, 8 months ago) |
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Seeing a lot of this discussion pop up in both Mexico and Colombia.
Central and South America would rather the US and Europe legalize drugs because their problem is violence more than it is " drug abuse."
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Delicious Pizza
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kman980
WillTryAnyDrugOnce
Registered: 03/28/08
Posts: 138
Last seen: 23 days, 19 hours
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Re: Weary of drug war, Mexico debates legalization [Re: Society]
#13174384 - 09/10/10 11:10 AM (2 years, 8 months ago) |
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Watching the establishment realize that waging a war on drugs is ineffective and counterproductive is like watching a kid with downs try to live by himself.
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ninja cat 09
Intergalactic Space Giant
Registered: 10/11/09
Posts: 2,770
Loc:
Last seen: 2 months, 16 days
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Re: Weary of drug war, Mexico debates legalization [Re: kman980]
#13175418 - 09/10/10 03:59 PM (2 years, 8 months ago) |
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What? how so?
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