Mexico Expected To Enact Liberalized Drug Law

Tchort

Tchort

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MEXICO CITY — Will Mexican cities become Latin Amsterdams, flooded by drug users seeking penalty-free tokes and toots?

That is the fear, if somewhat overstated, of some Mexican officials, especially in northern border states that serve as a mecca for underage U.S. drinkers.

The Mexican legislature has voted quietly to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and other drugs. Past efforts have proved highly controversial, most recently three years ago, but President Felipe Calderón is expected to sign the bill into law this time.

There has been less protest this time around, in part because there hasn't been much publicity.

Some critics have suggested easing the punishment on drug possession sends the wrong message at a time when Calderón is waging a bloody war on major narcotics traffickers. But Calderón proposed the decriminalization legislation.

His reasoning: It makes sense to distinguish between small-time users and big-time dealers, while re-targeting major crime-fighting resources away from the former and toward the latter and their drug-lord bosses.

"The important thing is ... that consumers are not treated as criminals," said Rafael Ruiz Mena, secretary general of the National Institute of Penal Sciences. "It is a public-health problem, not a penal problem."

The legislation was approved at the height of a swine-flu outbreak in Mexico that dominated the public's — and the world's — attention. Meeting at times behind closed doors — the better to prevent the spread of disease, officials said — the lower and upper houses of Congress passed the bill in late April. It awaits Calderón's signature.

Three years ago, in May 2006, then-President Vicente Fox, from Calderón's conservative National Action Party (PAN), vetoed a similar bill that he initially had supported. Fox backed down only under pressure from Washington, D.C., where the Bush administration complained that decriminalization for even small amounts could increase drug use.

But with less than a month to go before critical midterm elections in which his party is struggling to maintain control of the legislature, Calderón cannot afford to be seen as bowing to the United States, analysts say.

The Obama administration also has not publicly objected to the legislation, even though Michele Leonhart, acting director of the Drug Enforcement Administration said in April that legalization of drugs "would be a failed law-enforcement strategy for both the U.S. and Mexico."

So Calderón is expected to sign the bill into law, political observers say. Calderón's office did not comment.

Mexican government officials stress they are talking about decriminalization, not legalization. Until now, courts decided on a case-by-case basis whether and how to punish first-time drug-use offenders. And standard criteria for quantities hadn't existed.

Mexico is woefully underequipped to handle a booming drug-abuse problem.

The country for decades was a transit point for cocaine, marijuana and other drugs headed to the United States. But domestic consumption has soared more recently. A 2007 government study found the number of "addicts" in Mexico doubled in the previous five years.

Drug abuse has worsened, in part, because some of the big cartels pay their people with cocaine, marijuana or other such substances.

Clinics and other institutions that specialize in treatment and prevention have not kept up with the trend. The government is building 310 centers to improve care, but experts say that is not enough.

The legislation has received criticism from religious leaders and several officials of northern border states, who fear that so-called "drug tourists" will begin flocking to towns and cities already besieged by violence.

Mary Ellen Hernandez, director of the Rio Grande Safe Communities Coalition in El Paso, Texas, across the border from the blood-soaked Mexican city of Ciudad Juárez, said she worried decriminalization would lure Americans into a drug world they aren't prepared for and increase violence on both sides of the border.

"Already, the drugs that don't come over into the U.S. are being handed out by dealers to younger and younger children [in Mexico], 8-, 9-, 10-year-olds, hooking them," said Hernandez, whose agency specializes in drug prevention. "And then [the youths] steal to feed the habit."

Except for a relatively few voices, however, there has been minimal protest over the bill, and some praise.

Luciano Pascoe, vice president of the small left-wing Social Democratic Party (PSD), said the legislation was a positive "first step" that helped "shatter the stigma that consumers are criminals."
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By Tracy Wilkirson

6/22/2009

The Seattle Times

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2009366964_mexdrug22.html
 
TFA said:
The legislation has received criticism from religious leaders and several officials of northern border states, who fear that so-called "drug tourists" will begin flocking to towns and cities already besieged by violence.
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Yeah, people walking around saying bizarre shit to each other or staying in their homes is way worse than fearing for your life just for being there.

TFA said:
Mary Ellen Hernandez, director of the Rio Grande Safe Communities Coalition in El Paso, Texas, across the border from the blood-soaked Mexican city of Ciudad Juárez, said she worried decriminalization would lure Americans into a drug world they aren't prepared for and increase violence on both sides of the border.
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Americans already are in a drug world. Earth is a drug world.
 
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^a thing, one thing....
Have you been to juarez or ciudad juarez?
Hello drug world!
it's extra raw out there, plus it will keep many american out of mexican jail... Which is good, Oh wow, coffee shops serving joints and such on the mexican border!!! The economy will thrive at the border! The possiblilities.. But still, I'm skeptical...
But shit, who knows, maybe this will work somewhat, and when the out of control drug spiral that the american drug czars predict doesn't happen, well maybe they will shut up.
 
"Already, the drugs that don't come over into the U.S. are being handed out by dealers to younger and younger children [in Mexico], 8-, 9-, 10-year-olds, hooking them," said Hernandez, whose agency specializes in drug prevention. "And then [the youths] steal to feed the habit."
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What drugs don't come into the U.S.?

ALL drugs make it into the U.S. Simply because it's illegal here, we pay top dollar for such commodities whereas in legalized societies, or in countries that don't waste all their money trying to "fight a war on drugs", drugs are much cheaper.

If you're someone who can export a large quantity of drugs to any country, you would certainly start with the highest bidder, that being the U.S. It's good business strategy, anyone can tell you that.

I'll correct this quote.

Already, the same drugs that make it over the border into the US are being handed out by dealers to younger kids. Then, the kids steal to feed the habit. This is a phenomenon you can see in Mexico and the U.S. alike.
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++++++++++++++

Finally, I applaud this new decriminalization effort in Mexico. Hopefully other foreign countries will follow suit.
 
There were some articles months ago about the drive by cartels to sell Heroin, Meth, Cocaine, etc to Mexican nationals along the border area (instead of just shipping it all to the US).

Oh wow, coffee shops serving joints and such on the mexican border!!!
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The coffee-shop model is specifically a Dutch thing. Decriminalization doesn't mean automatically "build coffee shops that sell Marijuana confections/food and buds" ;) I doubt the Mexicans would allow such a thing.

They tried in the past to pass a similar bill as above, and all it seems to do is stop the arrest of people with small quantities of drugs (so the police and military can use all of their resources to go after cartels and corruption rather than users and minor dealers). Locking up drug addicts and recreational users is just as expensive for Mexico as it is anywhere else.
 
Viva la Mexico!
If this is successful maybe Obama will pass something similar in his 2nd term.


Hey, i can dream cant I?
 
<3Mexico<3
It's a start anyway.


Care said:
Viva la Mexico!
If this is successful maybe Obama will pass something similar in his 2nd term.

Hey, i can dream cant I?
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I highly doubt and really hope that won't happen. A SECOND term? Are you shitting me? I'm fairly certain a Libertarian will be elected in 2012 assuming America as we know it still exists by then. As the depression gets worse and worse, and we go further and further into debt, more and more people are beginning to realize government is the problem and not the solution. </off-topic rant>
 
TwisteTexan said:
Obama's second term, yeah, he's got things going real smooth so far:p
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To be fair, what were all of you expecting? Given the constraints of the American culture and political apparatus, I think he is doing a wonderful job. The President of the USA simply doesn't have the power to enact or strike down initiatives or plans or laws on a whim. The President is merely a figurehead, not a source of power in and of himself.

I shudder at the thought of where we be right now had the other two won the election. What do you think McCain/Palin would do in the face of Mexico proposing decriminalization and liberalization of its drug policies? Military force? Proxy war? Sanctions?
 
Tchort said:
I shudder at the thought of where we be right now had the other two won the election. What do you think McCain/Palin would do in the face of Mexico proposing decriminalization and liberalization of its drug policies? Military force? Proxy war? Sanctions?
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This is a good point, the typical neoconservative would have just pressured Mexico into illegalization just like Bush did.

I certainly didn't vote for Obama, but I also certainly didn't vote for McCain. I voted for Barr.
 
I voted for Ron Paul... McCain is an ass, he would have fucked with trade policy over this(sanctions?)... But I saw him as a better choice, because really I wan't less govt. in our lives. Obama means more, check his budget. Me and obama do agree on drug policy more than Mccain and that is one area in which I find solice in his presidency... But he won't get a second term, hillary and clinton will make waves I think :)
 
you know, a lot of people are knocking Obama already, he's only been in office for what? 5 or 6 months? something like that... anyway, look at the shithole he was elected in to. of course its going to take some time to turn things around.

now I'm not saying he's the best president we've ever had by any means, but give the guy a chance. he's trying at least...


and @ "alt 14". a Libertarian? hah, you've got to be kidding me. you're the one dreaming if you think America will vote a Libertarian into office. we're a Two-Party country, just not officially.
 
OK, enough with the political crapola. My question is, Mexico just wants to make possession of small quantities legal. But it would still be illegal to sell and buy drugs? Kinda doesn't make sense to me, they must also make buying it legal to have an effect. Almost sounds like a law the US would come up with.
 
Fillerup said:
OK, enough with the political crapola. My question is, Mexico just wants to make possession of small quantities legal. But it would still be illegal to sell and buy drugs? Kinda doesn't make sense to me, they must also make buying it legal to have an effect. Almost sounds like a law the US would come up with.
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This legislation was adopted in Portugal 8 years ago; the social improvements have been drastic.

Plus, if possession is no longer a crime, they have to see you exchange the drugs for money to prove a case of sale. If you are stopped and have the drugs on you, that isn't a crime. It takes the teeth out of most of the drug war legislation.
 
The US government's reaction is what I see causing this whole thing to backfire. Unlike European countries like Portugal or Holland, Mexico neighbors with the US, making this even more of an issue not only for the DEA but for the Dept. of Homeland Security. Just look at how the US responded to Canada's more lenient policies. With the US trying to keep the "War on drugs" basically as stagnant as possible, they'll probably try and step up enforcement to compensate.
 
^but hopefully Obama won't push "our" beliefs on other countries. Besides everyone is curious to see if this will improve the drug situation(like Portugal) but doesn't want to experiment with their own constituency. Hopefully the US will use this as a case study.
 
Anybody know the date if and when they are gonna sign this sucker into existence? I'm not too far from the border, and an occasional legalized bender in Mexico would be nice. I guess I would be one of those "drug tourists" that the US states fear. Getting ready to send for a passport card, although it's sad I have to go to a different country to get the good, cheap drugs I desire.
 
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