Mexico Senate OKs bill to legalize drug possesion

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Tr1p

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More great news!!!!!

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN28349522?rpc=64

MEXICO CITY, April 28 (Reuters) - Mexico's Senate approved a bill on Tuesday decriminalizing possession of small amounts of narcotics for personal use, in order to free resources to fight violent drug cartels.

The bill, proposed by conservative President Felipe Calderon, would make it legal to carry up to 5 grams (0.18 ounces) of marijuana, 500 milligrams (0.018 ounces) of cocaine and tiny quantities of other drugs such as heroin and methamphetamines.

Mexico's Congress passed a similar proposal in 2006 but the bill was vetoed by Calderon's predecessor Vicente Fox, under pressure from the United States, which said it would increase drug abuse, but now is worried by the drug-related violence along its border.

Calderon has staked his presidency on curtailing the escalating violence between rival drug gangs as they fight over smuggling routes to the United States, with violence spilling into U.S. cities like Phoenix and Tucson.

Calderon was praised by U.S. President Barack Obama this month for his army crackdown in a visit to the Mexican capital and Washington is sending more agents to its side of the border to curb the flow of guns and cash to the cartels.

Drug violence has killed 2,000 people this year across Mexico after 6,300 deaths in 2008.

The bill, which needs to be approved by the lower house, also allows Mexican states to convict small-time drug dealers, no longer making it a federal crime to peddle drugs. Drug dealers are rarely convicted in Mexico as federal courts are saturated with bigger cases and local judges cannot interfere.

Mexico's Congress convenes for a final session before its recess on Thursday but may call an extraordinary session given the outbreak of deadly swine flu in the country that has forced lawmakers to hold sessions behind closed doors to prevent further contagion. (Reporting by Miguel Angel Gutierrez, editing by Patricia Zengerle)
 
This is a very interesting article and a good step in the right direction. Does anyone know how exactly 'tiny quantities' are going to be defined?
 
Mr Blonde said:
This is a very interesting article and a good step in the right direction. Does anyone know how exactly 'tiny quantities' are going to be defined?
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good point. i really hope it's not one of those things where it depends on the official...
 
This may seem like a step in the right direction, but anything less than full legalisation could potentially make things worse. Casual users would not have to fear prosecution, possibly pushing up usage rates, but production and trafficking will still be in the hands of criminals, so the violence and corruption will continue. The one possible improvement that would come from this would be freeing up police resources to concentrate on real crime, but I doubt anyone seriously believes the police are capable of bringing down the drug cartels.
 
^ Interesting perspective. I disagree though, I think that down the track after more and more places demonstrate decriminalization is a success like Portugal, people will have to realize that it is a step in the right direction.

I think in a drug saturated and corrupt society like Mexico, everyone who is going to use drugs IS using them. I think it may cause some heavy users to cut back so they fall in line with the non prosecutable standards instead of buying in bulk.
 
Fuck yes this is huge. If Mexico does it with great results the other side of the boarder(usa) has a better chance of following suit but more importantly legalizing marijuana!
 
Users would still have to purchase their legal drugs from criminals. This will have no effect on the cartel violence. Though it is better than total prohibition and a step in the right direction, it's not enough. Just end the war on drugs.
 
The cynic in me thinks this could be a plot to allow the US to extrapolate that any prohibition reform does not work. I think it is more likely that it is the Mexican legislature just not understanding that this will not destroy the cartels.
 
drug_mentor said:
^ Interesting perspective. I disagree though, I think that down the track after more and more places demonstrate decriminalization is a success like Portugal, people will have to realize that it is a step in the right direction.

I think in a drug saturated and corrupt society like Mexico, everyone who is going to use drugs IS using them. I think it may cause some heavy users to cut back so they fall in line with the non prosecutable standards instead of buying in bulk.
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Maybe you're right, let's hope so. "a thing" has a good point though, if violence doesn't go down it could be used to argue that ending prohibition wouldn't help. Obviously this would be a pretty stupid argument, but stupidity has never been a barrier to being effective.
 
^ True, but really how would decrim affect the violence or cartels in any way? Other than the obvious extra police resources being used to pursue them. I don't think they could write off Portugals success even if they don't get it working in Mexico because Mexico is a pretty extreme case as far as violence and drug dealing goes.
 
a thing said:
The cynic in me thinks this could be a plot to allow the US to extrapolate that any prohibition reform does not work. I think it is more likely that it is the Mexican legislature just not understanding that this will not destroy the cartels.
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i see what you're saying and agree to some extent. however, we do have the alcohol prohibition to compare it to.
 
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