Can Mexico fight drugs by legalizing them?
Mexico is in the midst of a real drug war — a deadly clash between law enforcement and drug lords in which more than 12,000 people have died over the last three years, many of them innocent bystanders. Given the carnage, Mexican officials decided last week to try something imaginative — or desperate, some might say: The government passed a law legalizing small amounts of marijuana, heroin, cocaine and other drugs for “personal and immediate use.”
Mexican authorities say the change will allow police to focus on drug traffickers instead of small-time addicts. The downside, of course, is that the country, which is battling increasing drug addiction among its population, could end up with an even bigger drug problem.
Either way, this is an experiment the U.S. should watch closely. While our on “war on drugs” hasn’t had the death toll of Mexico’s, it has given us one of the world’s highest rates of incarceration — without an appreciable effect on drug use. If Mexican authorities are able to re-focus their energies on big-time drug traffickers because they’ve allowed people small amounts of drugs to use “recreationally,” the United States might be able to learn something from its southern neighbor.
Our own ‘war on drugs’ certainly isn’t working.
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24 comments Add your comment
Mac
August 24th, 2009
7:31 am
Amen. A new way is needed. It may not be what Mexico is attempting, but we need to re-open our minds about our policies. More treatment availability is a given.
Curious Observer
August 24th, 2009
7:44 am
Just what we need in this country, too–lots of stoned drivers on the highways and addled people in the workplace. There’s simply no way to keep “recreational” drugs in “small amounts” in the home and away from the endangerment of others. Yup, it would certainly end the “war on drugs” by acknowledging we lost it.
Jimmy62
August 24th, 2009
7:53 am
It’s so obvious that anyone without Puritan morality has thought it to be the obvious answer for decades. Mexico isn’t creating demand for drugs, we are. So their drug-related crime issues are our fault. If I were Mexico, I would legalize it all, and tell the US they should deal with their own problems on their own soil.
And to “Curious Observer,” we already have tons of stoned drivers on the roads. And you know why Mother’s Against Drunk Driving is a big, well known group, but there are no similar groups related to driving stoned? Because you can drive fine stoned.
The war on drugs is stupid. It’s like declaring a war on cake. If I want to eat cake, then why shouldn’t I be able to? It’s not hurting anyone else. Call the War on Drugs the War of Stupidity and Futility instead. You can’t give an actual good reason why pot should be illegal. Can you tell me why we should continue on our current road when high school kids say it’s easier to get pot than alcohol? Legalize and regulate it if you want it out of the hands of high schoolers. Right now you are practically putting it in their hands and lighting up for them.
wee weed up
August 24th, 2009
8:05 am
Hopefully, Cynthia is on drugs. That would explain her racist columns. Just how is Mr. Farrakhan?
woodbutcher
August 24th, 2009
8:06 am
We could start by getting treatment in the jail’s for opiate dependency.
By administering low doses of methadone for addicts in county and city jails that are awaiting court date’s we could expose a large number of opiate dependent people to a treatment option that could be continued after thier release and hopefully steer them into a better direction than just going back to the street. The cost for a daily dose of methadone is less than 25-50 cent’s per person.and i know of very few addicts that would not take advantage of treatment in jail if it ment avoiding the inevitable withdrawl sickness that can cuase terrible pain and even in some cases death.this is a simple inexpensive way to start and it beats paying several thouasand $ a year to lock up some one who could otherwise be working and paying taxes
joe matarotz
August 24th, 2009
8:29 am
Cynthia, you are a genius. Just who will determine and how will they regulate the ’small amount’ of coke, crack, horse, meth, cristal meth, crank, etc., etc. It sounds like you vision is a bunch of regular folk stopping off at Kroger on Friday to pick up a weekend joint. Never mind all the hard core users, not to mention the dealers who will be more than willing to supplement the legal dose.
I don’t want the government sending out a message to our children that drug use is okay. It isn’t. But I guess it’s okay with you. No wonder you are held in such low regard by ajc readers.
What They Are Saying: 08.24.09 | AnnotatedOpinions.com
August 24th, 2009
8:33 am
[...] Can Mexico fight drugs by legalizing them? [Atlanta Journal-Constitution] [...]
Jimmy62
August 24th, 2009
8:41 am
Joe Matarotz, you are dead wrong. Our policies RIGHT NOW make it easy to get pot and other drugs in high school. On the other hand, they have a tough time getting alcohol. What do you think the difference is? Alcohol is legal and regulated, pot is not.
If you think pot is somehow worse than alcohol, then you’ve never had it, and are depending on the lies the government has told you over the years. These are the same people that used to encourage smoking cigarettes, so why you would trust them is beyond me. But anyone that has gotten high and gotten drunk knows the truth. Alcohol can be very, very bad, while pot, at it’s worst, is fairly mild.
Try making decisions on actual facts and evidence instead of hearsay.
Price
August 24th, 2009
9:12 am
They didn’t legalize anything…read it again…it’s still illegal.
Bill Harris
August 24th, 2009
11:29 am
Debaters debate the two wars as if Nixon’s civil war on Woodstock Nation didn’t yet run amok. One needn’t travel to China to find indigenous cultures lacking human rights or to Cuba for political prisoners. America leads the world in percentile behind bars, thanks to ongoing persecution of hippies, radicals, and non-whites under banner of the war on drugs. If we’re all about spreading liberty abroad, then why mix the message at home? Peace on the home front would enhance credibility.
The drug czar’s Rx for prison fodder costs dearly, as lives are flushed down expensive tubes. My shaman’s second opinion is that psychoactive plants are God’s gift. In God’s eyes, it’s all good (Gen.1:12). The administration claims it wants to reduce demand for cartel product, but extraditing Canadian seed vendor Marc Emery increases demand. Mr. Emery enables American farmers to steal cartel customers with superior domestic product.
The constitutionality of the CSA (Controlled Substances Act of 1970) derives from an interstate commerce clause. This clause is invoked to finance organized crime, endanger homeland security, and throw good money after bad. Official policy is to eradicate, not tax, the number-one cash crop in the land. America rejected prohibition, but it’s back. Apparently, SWAT teams don’t need no stinking amendment.
Nixon promised the Schafer Commission would support the criminalization of his enemies, but it didn’t. No matter, the witch-hunt was on. No amendments can assure due process under an anti-science law without due process itself. Psychology hailed the breakthrough potential of LSD, until the CSA halted all research. Marijuana has no medical use, period.
The RFRA (Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993) allows Native American Church members to eat peyote, which functions like LSD. Americans shouldn’t need a specific church membership to obtain their birthright freedom of religion. Denial of entheogen sacrament to any American, for mediation of communion with his or her maker, precludes the free exercise of religious liberty.
Freedom of speech presupposes freedom of thought. The Constitution doesn’t enumerate any governmental power to embargo diverse states of mind. How and when did government usurp this power to coerce conformity? The Mayflower sailed to escape coerced conformity. Legislators who would limit cognitive liberty lack jurisdiction.
Common-law must hold that adults own their bodies. The Founding Fathers decreed that the right to the pursuit of happiness is inalienable. Socrates said to know your self. Lawmakers should not presume to thwart the intelligent design that molecular keys unlock spiritual doors. Persons who appreciate their own free choice of path in life should tolerate seekers’ self-exploration.
Simple majorities in each house could put repeal of the CSA on the president’s desk. The books have ample law on them without the CSA. The usual caveats remain in effect. You are liable for damages when you screw up. Strong medicine requires prescription. Employees can be fired for poor job performance. No harm, no foul; and no excuse, either. Replace the war on drugs with a frugal, constitutional, science-based drugs policy.
Colleen McCool
August 24th, 2009
11:35 am
This is a change in policy that reflects the way things have always been handled on the street. They will not have the law to arrest users on the books any more because it was not being enforced anyway.
Repeal the new prohibition. Many supporters of a change to science-based policy do not use so called illicit drugs or plan to but are just compassionate liberty lovers! We believe less people will be lost to violence, suicide, overdose and skid row or will stoop to prostitution with policy that offers help and treatment to addicts in place of incarceration.
Marijuana is safer than alcohol or tobacco. It is reefer madness to drive people away from a safer choice in a recreational drug. It is downright sinister, a crime against humanity for the medicinal uses of cannabis to be suppressed. Scientists have discovered that one of Bob Dylan’s most famous lines, “everybody must get stoned,” tells it like it is. They have found that our brains manufacture proteins (canabinoids) that act like marijuana (THC) at specific receptors in the brain itself..
Cannabis oil is the cure all our ancestors used and did not let us all be brainwashed into forgetting. Some scientists speculate that cannabinoids play a protective role in the brain, slowing the rate of disease.
NetBanker
August 24th, 2009
12:56 pm
Go Mexico! Where exactly has the War on Drugs gotten the U.S.? Addiction rates have remained constant, the availability of illegal drugs hasn’t changed, but we sure are spending tons of money housing non-violent drug offenders in our prisons. Prohibition didn’t work on alcohol so why do we assume it will be successful for other illegal drugs. Legalize, regulated, and tax the bejesus out of it just like alcohol. We’re more likely to have less criminal activity which allows law enforcement to focus, saves the country money to house “criminals”, and raises money through taxation.
LazyLass914
August 24th, 2009
4:30 pm
Just imagine, if drugs were legal and taxed, there would be no need for state income taxes, It would do more than replace that revenue. A recent report by Shirley Skeel at MSN MOney news found that just legalizing marijuana and taxing it would bring upwards of $10 billion a year, $40 billion if other drugs are included. And think of the decrease in costs in prisons: 1 in 6 black males is in prison or on probation, 1 in 10 Americans overall. And the majority reason is drugs. What if we put all that money into education? Those well educated, responsible, looking-forward-to-a future children will not need drugs (I’m talking those underprivleged ghetto kids here who end up being the 1/6 in jail) not to offend anyone. Maybe Georgia could manage to actually make some headway into our education fiasco if all this money went into giving kids and teachers what they need. The more educated a person is, the less likely they are to pursue drugs and use them, especially if they have a future and a career that they can not risk messing up. If we poured all the money from our “war” on drugs into education, in 50 years or so, we won’t need a war on drugs.
Dictionary
August 24th, 2009
4:51 pm
As someone else mentioned, the drugs were not legalized they were decriminalized. There is a significant difference. You should consider researching things before getting people to believe falsehoods.
urallfools
August 24th, 2009
5:47 pm
Yes… we can see ur all pot heads. Dont group them all together (jimmy). Sounds like ur trying to justify it all with only referance to the one. Stay on topic. Sure we can decriminalize “some” drugs and increase the punishment for offenders who violate other laws while on under the influance.
Annah
August 24th, 2009
6:18 pm
While “decriminalizing” small amounts for personal possession makes the government look like it’s appeasing legalizers, it literally does nothing beneficial for the massive problems caused directly by prohibition. The only thing that will help this problem that is the War on Drugs is complete legalization, taxation, and regulation and ending America’s third war (The American Civil War of the 20th and 21st Centuries). Until then, and only then, will the Mexican Drug Cartels be put out of business, will innocent people’s lives cease to be ruined by law enforcement, and will we save billions a year that are far better spent on other things.
The United States really needs to wake up and stop the madness. The War on “Drugs” is not, and never was, a war on drugs. It is a war on minorities and fringe types. If the government cared even the tiniest bit for the health of American citizens, then alcohol, tobacco, and most prescription drugs would be illegal and marijuana would be legal. What’s probably the worst problem caused by the War on “Drugs” is the loss of credibility the US Government garners for itself by perpetuating this hypocritical game they continue playing with American citizens. People need to speak up and we need to get them to stop it ASAP.
Annah
August 24th, 2009
6:22 pm
Jimmy62 – Right on. Good points. Keep up the good work. Eventually they’ll get it, if they don’t, then they can drink themselves to death while the rest watch.
Bill C.
August 24th, 2009
7:06 pm
“Yup, it would certainly end the “war on drugs” by acknowledging we lost it.”
Yeah, so let’s keep pretending like we’re winning.
DCPn1
August 24th, 2009
10:58 pm
Bill Harris,
Powerful and informative post. As an amateur law student and long time critic of the war on drugs it gave me goosebumps.
Jim Teger
August 24th, 2009
11:02 pm
Actually the US has more deaths due to gang related violence than Mexico. However, the Mexican situation has a much larger media spotlight on it. Between 10,000 to 20,000 Americans die annually due to gang related violence while Mexico is in the range of 5,000 to 10,000 people per year. Granted the US population is larger than Mexico, but it is unlikely the average Joe is aware of the extent of the violence problem in his own country.
My wish is the US people demand an open debate on the pros and cons of the existing drug policy, with an open mind to making changes.
buddy
August 25th, 2009
12:27 am
From a moral point of view drug trafficking is a crime against humanity. It has gone on now since the 60″s and gotten totally out of control through the years. The U. S. economy is a drug economy and dope money funds the political campaigns. Many publications point out who the foreign drug dealers are but do you ever read in the local papers who the American Drug Lords are? Any time you read where someone says that taking drugs is a victimless crime you know that person is a user. Every American knows of a family member or friend who has either died from an overdose or their mind or brain is fried. The dealers put so much pressure on kids to get on drugs so they can make more money. It is absolutely obscene what has happened to our nation.
Kirk Muse
August 25th, 2009
1:20 pm
Decriminalizing tiny amounts of drugs will little or no effect on the drug cartels. The U. S. and Mexico needs to fully legalize all the drugs the cartels deal in. Not to solve our drug problem, but rather to dramatically reduce our overall crime rate.
watchmen
August 30th, 2009
5:18 am
mexico doesnt even have a big drug problem cause they are litterally to poor to afford em. if it wasnt for america demand for drugs all of these drug cartels would bother columbia or mexico. its america thats needs to change its “war on drugs” not just to save our addicted people but to also save other countrys so they can have stability in there country because of prohibition all of this violence happened
Nowhere Girl
September 2nd, 2009
1:49 pm
Joe Matarotz – and I don’t want the government to be sending out a message to everyone that we are state property. If we don’t have the right to decide over our consciousness, then personal liberty doesn’t exist.
Others have already noticed it, but still… So far everyone’s calling a small step a breakthrough. This isn’t legalization, this is decriminalization of pesonal posession. Legalization means that adults can legally purchase drugs for example at the chemist’s.
Anyway it’s important that more and more countries are making this small step, and yet more important – that the idea of legalization doesn’t any longer sound like some freak daydreaming. Think about Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, for example – this idea is becoming acceptable in the mainstream right now.