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.
Reuters
Too bad it will not happen in the US anytime soon.
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I don’t want to go all Jon Stewar, but what the hell:
“Sooo we the nation of Mexico can’t shut down our drug gangs and mob that are controlling our uh cities and the violence is being pushed ove the American border. Sooooooooo all Drugs are legal now. All of them. Problem solved! Tequila shots and cheap prostitutes all around.”
@Puulaahi: I wonder if there really was another way around the problem? You have to cut the power of the drug cartels. How else to do it? Here in the US it’s mostly a user problem, but for Mexico, it’s the cartels and they have a lot of power, money, weapons and ruthlessness. It may be worth whatever number of people (and even kids) that end up addicted.
@nyokki: Plus the Mexican Government is just useless.