Pubdate: Fri, 30 Nov 2012
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2012 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Note: This editorial originally appeared in Tuesday's Dallas Morning News.
Page: 32A

Second Opinion

A THIRD-WAY DRUG POLICY

When voters in Colorado and Washington recently legalized the 
recreational use of marijuana, their actions left Mexico 
President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto wondering whether tracking down 
pot growers in Mexico is a futile strategy.

It's an understandable question for Pena Nieto to ask directly when 
he visits President Barack Obama at the White House in a traditional 
postelection meeting of leaders. At the prodding of the United 
States, Mexico spends billions of dollars annually to fight violent 
and wealthy paramilitary drug trafficking organizations. Yet the 
U.S., which also lays out billions of dollars to curb marijuana and 
other drug use, remains the main destination of marijuana produced in Mexico.

This pervasive disconnect among state, federal and global drug 
policies should prompt a serious re-evaluation of drug strategies. 
Frustration over violence and illicit drug profits has grown 
dramatically in recent years. Former Mexico President Vicente Fox 
once called for Mexico to legalize the production, distribution and 
sale of all drugs. In a recent interview with The Economist, 
departing Mexico President Felipe Calderon said ending the drug trade 
is "impossible," adding that it's up to the U.S. to either reduce its 
levels of drug use or use "market mechanisms" to reduce the flow of 
drug money to Mexico.

Noted Calderon: "If they (Americans) want to take all the drugs they 
want, as far as I'm concerned let them take them. I don't agree with 
it, but it's their decision, as consumers and as a society. What I do 
not accept is that they continue passing their money to the hands of killers."

This argument seems to be resonating among voters in the United 
States. Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia have 
decriminalized marijuana possession and medical use of the substance, 
which places those states in conflict with federal drug laws. This is 
an untenable clash, but it also reflects a growing consensus here and 
globally that anti-drug strategies to date aren't working.

Momentum seems to be building around the idea of decriminalizing 
consumption to remove mega-profits from illicit trade. For example, 
the Organization of American States and presidents Juan Manuel Santos 
of Colombia and Otto Perez Molina of Guatemala are pushing for 
alternatives to current drug enforcement strategies.

The White House and the Congress should be asking the same tough 
questions. A drug policy that breeds uncertainty and frustration at 
home and abroad is a bad strategy. The Dallas Morning News supports 
certain medical uses of marijuana, but reserves judgment on whether 
broader decriminalization is the right approach.

This much is certain: The war against drugs isn't working-here or 
abroad. Congress and the White House owe it to Americans and our 
drug-fighting allies to devise more realistic marijuana policies.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom