Mexican president considering legalizing drugs to curb the drug war/crimes. really?

[R_P_A_S]

I honestly don't know if this will even help. I mean what do you guys think? Legalizing meth and cocaine? I can see pot being legalized but what about the hard drugs?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38547046/

[Adi Shankara]

I honestly don't know if this will even help. I mean what do you guys think? Legalizing meth and cocaine? I can see pot being legalized but what about the hard drugs?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38547046/

At the very least, it'd make Cancun have a permanent population of chubby shirtless frat boys with curly hair named Todd.

[fa2991]

They already legalized possession of small amounts of most drugs for personal use a year or two ago. Further measures would certainly help. How better to curb drug violence than to drain the market?

[A Revolutionary Tool]

If I was a Mexican drug lord there would be a dead president.

[GPDP]

A Mexican president, adopting a policy that... makes sense?

Nah, won't happen.

[Nachie]

It would appear that I am moving to Mexico.

[theAnarch]

I honestly don't know if this will even help. I mean what do you guys think? Legalizing meth and cocaine? I can see pot being legalized but what about the hard drugs?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38547046/

While I'm against people using meth and cocaine draconian laws don't stop people from using drugs in fact they make it harder to find help to get off drugs. So in my view this is a positive step.

[CleverTitle]

This would be a step in the right direction. Banning these sorts of substances is useless. It creates underground markets and causes tons of crime, as seen in Mexico today.

[MarxSchmarx]

This would be a step in the right direction. Banning these sorts of substances is useless. It creates underground markets and causes tons of crime, as seen in Mexico today.

The drug war was calderon's desperate attempt to unite the country and boost his legitimacy after he colluded w/ the pri to steal the 2006 elections. Now with the war having only slain a few hydra heads and his thorough failure to tackle corruption he is basically admitting what was likely known and advocated before so many people had to die so he can abet his claim to being president.

[NGNM85]

I'm not sure this will solve the problem. I'm not sure anything will. Mexican drug gangs have just exploded. Not too long ago a group of cartel gangbangers ambushed a police convoy with assault rifles and grenades, grenade launchers, and sniper rifles;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36760781/
I also read about La Familia Michoacana, one of the most powerful drug gangs. They've made a habit of decapitating their enemies, one, mounting the heads in a town square, on another occasion rolling them onto the floor of a discotheque. Here's an article about the gang;http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/andrewbrown/2010/jul/19/religion-christianity
I think it's going to take a lot more than legislation to turn this around....

[MarxSchmarx]

I'm not sure this will solve the problem. I'm not sure anything will. Mexican drug gangs have just exploded. Not too long ago a group of cartel gangbangers ambushed a police convoy with assault rifles and grenades, grenade launchers, and sniper rifles;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36760781/
I also read about La Familia Michoacana, one of the most powerful drug gangs. They've made a habit of decapitating their enemies, one, mounting the heads in a town square, on another occasion rolling them onto the floor of a discotheque. Here's an article about the gang;http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/andrewbrown/2010/jul/19/religion-christianity
I think it's going to take a lot more than legislation to turn this around....

It comes down to a darwinian struggle to get at the top of the pile. The narcotrafficers had effectively agreed on a provisional power sharing arrangement with the government as long as the government didn't go after those at the very top. Now that the hanchos have been removed by the government there is a massive power struggle. However it has started to resolve itself for example in northern Baja California - unfortunately and depressingly that may be the only way this matter abates.

Here are some details:
http://uprisingradio.org/home/?p=13781

[chegitz guevara]

Mexico is losing America's war against drugs. Some 25,000 have died in the violence, last I heard. That's fucking ridiculous. Why should they have to pay for our appetites and stupidities?

[The Fighting_Crusnik]

I don't think it will make a difference for the simple reason that the majority of the cartel's profit comes from American users... So for Mexico, it might divert some of the drama, but for the US... it means more money pissed away on sending people to the borders who'll just be bought over by the cartels... but if the US legalizes marijuana at the very least, then I think the cartels will just dissolve... unless there is a market in South America or elsewhere in the world that they would just migrate to.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Supposedly there's 200,000 cocaine addicts in Ciudad Juarez alone. Hopefully legalizing/decriminalizing drugs would mean that such people would be one step closer to getting the help that they need, like what's happening in Portugal.

[dawt]

I don't think it will make a difference for the simple reason that the majority of the cartel's profit comes from American users...
Most parts of the process - besides export - could be controlled and regulated by the government. Will it resolve te situation near the borders? Probably not, smuggling will still be the Cartells' turf, but legalising will at least seriously harm the criminals' business in most parts of the country, leaving more resources to fight the rest.

The moves comes terribly late though, the cartells have long extended their tentacles into many other parts of society and while drugs are still their main source of income, it's not the only one they rely on.

[The Fighting_Crusnik]

Most parts of the process - besides export - could be controlled and regulated by the government. Will it resolve te situation near the borders? Probably not, smuggling will still be the Cartells' turf, but legalising will at least seriously harm the criminals' business in most parts of the country, leaving more resources to fight the rest.

The moves comes terribly late though, the cartells have long extended their tentacles into many other parts of society and while drugs are still their main source of income, it's not the only one they rely on.

Yeah, there extension is pretty damn far since I just discovered that one of my best friend's family is involved with it since they're scattered from where I live, which is in the northern midwest to central Mexico... though, the only reason I know is because I talked her out of joining the family business when she discovered that her dad pissed away her college funds... via alcohol and gambling. Overall though, I think if we let farmers grow things like marijuana and poppies, it will stifle the cartels even more... though... you'll risk the cartels forcing the farmers to pay "protection" money...

[dawt]

Corruption's a *****. At least there won't be as many reckless shootings and innocent deaths, I hope. Didn't want my last post to sound like everything'd be perfect after legalising. The Mexican governments are just as criminal.

[Proletarian Ultra]

I honestly don't know if this will even help. I mean what do you guys think? Legalizing meth and cocaine?[/URL]

One less thing the capitalist state can arbitrarily search and detain people for.

[human strike]

Unless the Mexican president can legalise pot in the US, I don't imagine it would make a whole load of difference what he does.