The federal legislature of Mexico has passed a bill to legalize "small amounts of cocaine, heroin, even ecstasy" for personal use. President Vicente Fox's signature is expected to be forthcoming since his office has
for the measure.
! A person could be a legal walking pharmacy. More surprising is the
that the measure is being pushed while drug addiction among Mexicans is increasing.
To be fair, though, the bill reportedly stiffens some penalties for trafficking and possession by government employees and near schools. In support of the bill, backers say it will free up police to go after major drug traffickers and avoid crowding jails with small-time offenders. Of course, using their logic, Mexico should legalize convenience store robberies to allow police to focus on bank heists.
Interestingly, the timing of the announcement of the intent to legalize drugs probably could not have come at a more troubling time. At present, tensions between the U.S. and Mexico are heightened due to a variety of factors. These include:
that someone unwelcome moved into my house and there is nobody to call for help. My only options are to tolerate the trespassers or leave my home. It didn't used to be that way. I recall when the government protected and defended the citizens and territorial boundaries of the United States.
Nevertheless, with all the existing problems associated with having an imaginary border between the U.S. and Mexico, the last thing needed is the implied promise that every illegal alien crossing the border will soon be carrying "personal use" amounts of a variety of illicit drugs. To quote the Mayor of San Diego, Jerry Sanders, it's "appallingly stupid." I agree.
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A couple of notes:
May 1 is "Labor Day" in the rest of the world. It's primarily in the U.S. that the date was changed, so as to obscure its socialist origin.
And I have to wonder if the illegal border traffic won't start flowing two ways, with certain Americans going down to Mexico to get high.
Posted by: Michael Hampton at April 30, 2006 06:00 AM (FVbj6)
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I think the US should legalize some drugs, particularly marijuana. The war on drugs drains enormous amounts of money from the government and has not improved the overall situation. People can still get drugs at a reasonable price. The only thing the war on drugs is doing is filling our prisons with pot heads.
Posted by: Scott at April 30, 2006 07:11 AM (a7tCL)
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the government admits that it is able to stop only about 10% of the drugs at the border. Take all that money and use it where it will do the most good, on prevention and treatment..
Posted by: john Ryan at April 30, 2006 07:39 AM (TcoRJ)
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DOPE IS FOR DOPES and mexco is run by dopes
Posted by: sandpiper at April 30, 2006 08:08 AM (b1Fi6)
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I think that Michael has it right. If a government is willing to unashamedly encourage its citizens to cross into a neighbouring country illegally, just for the revenue it brings, it's highly likely that decriminalising an array of drugs is a strategy to get young Americans to visit in larger numbers and spend more money. Particularly when rampant corruption and strong links to the drug trade are present at all levels of the government.
Posted by: Graeme at April 30, 2006 08:46 AM (IX6/9)
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Great strategy on the part of Mexico! A country going nowhere plagued by crime, corruption and total lack of hope ... export significant segments of their population and keep much of the poor reminder stoned!
Mexico will never change - build a wall 20' high - with a sufficent number of doors for the best, brightest, ambitious, and decent.
Posted by: hondo at April 30, 2006 11:25 AM (SeBrl)
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Great opportunity for the tourist trade! A drug haven for affluent Americans and westerners - add an explosion in the sex trade (drugs help) and the Mexican government is gonna make some nice change!
Local Mexican police aren't stupid! This will be a great opportunity for selective drug enforcement with tourists! Think of the blackmail and extortion opportunities! an affluent American will pay 10-20 thou easy to keep their pothead children out of a Mexican prision!
Posted by: hondo at April 30, 2006 11:33 AM (SeBrl)
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Suppose another country had almost no drug problem. Suppose
that country had less than a small fraction of one percent
of our drug arrests. And suppose that country had almost no
"drug-related crime" and that their robbery rate was a tiny
fraction of our robbery rate.
Do you think is might be wise and prudent to carefully observe
that other country's drug policy and that we should model that
other country's drug policy?
Well, there is such a country: The Czech Republic.
The Czech Republic is the only country in the world where adult
citizens can legally use, possess and grow small quantities of
marijuana. (In the Netherlands, marijuana is quasi-legal - not
officially legal.)
The Czech overall drug arrest rate is 1 per 100,000 population. The
United States' overall drug arrest rate is 585 per 100,000 population.
The Czech robbery rate is 2 per 100,000 population. The United States'
robbery rate is 145.9 per 100,000 population, according to our FBI.
According to our drug war cheerleaders, tolerant marijuana laws cause
people to use other, much more dangerous drugs, like methamphetamine
and heroin. Obviously, this doesn't happen in the Czech Republic.
Why not?
Could it be that when people can legally obtain marijuana at an
affordable price, they tend not to use or desire any other recreational
drugs?
Could it be that marijuana legalization actually creates a roadblock to
hard drug use - not a gateway?
Could it be that the vast majority our so-called "drug-related crime"
is caused by our marijuana prohibition policies?
Could it be that if we keep doing what we have been doing, we will
probably get the same results? Should we throw another trillion
dollars down the drug war rat hole? Or should we do something
different--dramatically different?
Kirk Muse
1741 S. Clearview Ave.
Mesa, 85209
(480) 396-3399
Thank you for considering this letter for publication.
Source for the 145.9 robberies per 100,000 population
statistic is from the FBI Uniform Crime Reports, 2002 final
statistics.
Source for the Czech Republic's marijuana legalization
policy: "A Czech Toke on Freedom," by Jeffrey Fleishman in the
Los Angeles Times, Jan. 24 2006.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-weed24jan24,0,7449540.story
Source for Czech crime rate statistics:
http://www.notebooktravel.co.uk/travellersguide/travellersguidepages/czechrepublic.htm
(Scroll to bottom of the page).
Posted by: Kirk Muse at April 30, 2006 12:49 PM (/ZDpr)
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http://profiles.emcdda.eu.int/index.cfm?fuseaction=public.Content&nNodeID=2348&sLanguageISO=EN
If anyone's interested in the detailed realities of Czech/drugs .... which of course ... is totally lacking from the above.
Posted by: hondo at April 30, 2006 01:22 PM (SeBrl)
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Wow! So cool! Two sources on Czech drug laws!!! One is an article for the LA Times (???) and the other is from a British Travel guide (???). What! No Czech sources????
Crime stats courtesy the FBI (????).
Kirk's been toting the weed too long! Wanna compare/talk about Czech drug laws etc. ...... well ... duh! ... some Czech input would, like, be helpful ... or is that too much to absorb thru the haze?
Posted by: hondo at April 30, 2006 01:33 PM (SeBrl)
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I was just in Acapulco yesterday, and ten days ago a drug gang decapitated two cops who had participated in a lethal drug raid, and left their bodies on the front steps of a police station, with a sign saying "so that you will learn respect". I don't know about decriminalizing small amounts as a way of getting bigger fish, but it seems worth a try. Hondo, the danger of cops going after tourists with phony charges exists much more under the current law--many tourists say the cops plant a small amount of drugs, then ask for a bribe in return for not arresting them.
It is amazing how instructive travel is. I spoke to a lot of people down there about the upcoming elections, and the working assumption of many is that the PAN will steal the election, just as the PRI did in 88. By comparison, our own electoral system, for all its flaws, seems okay. Of course, they have several things we could learn from--like national voter registration and uniform election laws and a holiday for the election.
Posted by: jd at April 30, 2006 03:25 PM (uT71O)
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JD:
If decapitated people makes you want to offer criminals amnesty, when do we offer it to the Taliban / Al-Qaeda?
I'm sure there is a lot of things we could learn from Mexico, like how to make a hut out of a sheet of plastic, and three sheets of corrugated steel or how to export poverty.
Posted by: davec at April 30, 2006 04:39 PM (CcXvt)
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So wait, rather than try to help people overcome a drug addiction, it seems like a good idea to just legalize it so we don't have to chase after the drug dealers and addicts all the time. This will really boost moral in a country. Hey-maybe this will make people stay in Mexico, rather than come over to America...all our immigration problems are solved!
Posted by: crazy cat lady at April 30, 2006 04:45 PM (rjg51)
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jd
You miss the point friend ... you speak of planting drugs and phony charges ... new senario ... no need for planting and the charges are real ... tailor made for an increase in corruption reference tourists.
Posted by: hondo at April 30, 2006 05:07 PM (SeBrl)
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When the police ARE the criminals, they're bound to get decapitated every so often.
Posted by: Michael Hampton at April 30, 2006 06:16 PM (FVbj6)
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I don't think I was understood. I'm not suggesting the decapitaters should get amnesty. The stated purpose of the law is so the police can focus on the traffickers, the ones who did the decapitating. The decapitations show that the drug problems they are facing in Mexico are simply much larger than the ones we face.
And yes, the Mexican police are badly corrupt. Some of the people I met down there said the attitude of most Mexicans is if your house gets robbed, don't call the police--they'll just case it for another robbery. Hondo, you may be right that as opposed to planting drugs in small amounts, the police can now arrest someone and exaggerate the amount he had. We'll see, I guess.
One thing we ARE learning from Mexico, Dave, is to tolerate increasing gaps between the richest and the poorest. If current trends of exacerbating the share of national income held by the top 1% and top .1% continue, we may have to learn many things that Mexico has known for years about money and class and social rigidity. Hopefully, it won't come to learning about hut creation.
Posted by: jd at April 30, 2006 09:04 PM (uT71O)
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" Dave's not here man! "
" No, no, no! This is Dave! "
" Dave's not here man! "
Posted by: Last gasp Larry at April 30, 2006 11:32 PM (h4PzP)
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Ted Carpenter at
Cato's new blog thinks criminalization only increases the profit potential of illegal drugs and gives them a more lucrative, coveted place on the market.
Unfortunately, Mexican leaders show no willingness to legalize the manufacture or sale of marijuana, cocaine, and other drugs. Indeed, they have argued that the new law will enable law enforcement agencies to devote more resources to supressing trafficking. That means the huge potential profit in the drug trade will persist—and so will the corruption and violence that is tearing Mexico’s society apart.
Posted by: Anastasia at May 01, 2006 09:55 AM (lcebH)
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At least one country has figured out the drug war is a COMPLETE waste of time, money, and resources.
Posted by: craig at May 01, 2006 08:13 PM (CMKoe)
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As for Mikes "a person can be a legal walking pharmacy" comment, alot of people are walking pharmacys. Ever heard of the ghetto and drug dealers?
Posted by: craig at May 01, 2006 08:17 PM (CMKoe)
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Thats awesome they should legalize marijuana its all for money
Posted by: josh at May 04, 2006 10:24 AM (2N1xj)
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Thats awesome they should legalize marijuana a lot of people do it anyway and it would make it easier for everyone... drinking is worse for you so why not?
Posted by: josh at May 04, 2006 10:25 AM (2N1xj)
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Not a good idea afterall, oh the mood swings ... pass that pipe ...
Posted by: Last gasp Larry at May 04, 2006 11:41 AM (FCC6c)
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The drug war has failed. Consumers want drugs. Making drugs illegal only makes them more expensive and inconvienient to obtain. If you want to get drunk, you have to drive 5-10 minutes to the grocery store and spend about $10. If you want to get stoned, you have to drive 15-20 minutes to your buddy's house and spend about $40.
The best solution is to legalize and educate.
Policing, jailing, and court costs are large. Not only would legalization reduce the necessary sizes of our police forces, jails, and court systems; it would also make a very large market available for taxation.
Young people should be educated that drugs are often harmful. Education has been the main influence in the sharp decline in teen tobacco consumption. Should a person find themselves with a problem, the facilities should exist to help them recover.
Posted by: Yummy at May 14, 2006 04:06 PM (r99Fg)
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