Mexico considers legalization

JustAnotherAsshole

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/04/mexico-legalisation-debate-drug-war

Mexico's president, Felipe Calderón, has joined calls for a debate on the legalisation of drugs as new figures show thousands of Mexicans every year being slaughtered in cartel wars.

"It is a fundamental debate," the president said, belying his traditional reluctance to accept any questioning of the military-focused offensive against the country's drug cartels that he launched in late 2006. "You have to analyse carefully the pros and cons and key arguments on both sides." The president said he personally opposes the idea of legalisation.

Calderón's new openness comes amid tremendous pressure to justify a strategy that has been accompanied by the spiralling of horrific violence around the country as the cartels fight each other and the government crack down. Official figures released this week put the number of drug war related murders at 28,000.

Until recently the government regularly played down the general impact of the violence by claiming that 90% of the victims were associated with the cartels, with the remainder largely from the security forces. In recent months it has started to acknowledge a growing number of "civilian victims" ranging from toddlers caught in the cross fire to students massacred at parties...

In response to Calderon's moment of clarity, anti-drug groups and politicians are coming out of the woodwork to stress that legalization couldn't possibly have any effect on Cartel violence, and that the government should continue this retarded fight.

:facepalm:

Vicky

Of course, a big chunk of the economy would collapse without the revenue this industry creates! Think of the prisons, the weapons manufacturers etc, they have famlies to feed too!:facepalm:

DirtySanchez

I geuss most politicians in america and Mexico learned nothing from prohibition of alcohol. History says that prohibition causes crime every time. So how they can say it wont reduce violence is just:facepalm: Id say to any politician to read up on america from 1920 to 1933. Crime skyrocketed. After all they are DRUG cartels get rid of the need to buy drugs from them than of course crime would drop.