Pubdate: Sun, 28 Jul 2013
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2013 The Washington Post Company
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/mUgeOPdZ
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Authors: Fernando Gomez Mont and Jorge G. Castaneda
Note: Fernando Gomez Mont was Mexico's interior minister in the 
administration of Felipe Calderon. Jorge G. Castaneda was minister of 
foreign affairs in the administration of Vicente Fox.

A TRUCE IN THE POT WAR

Amid a Shift in Views, Ex-Officials Push for Decriminalization in Mexico City

Last year, voters in Colorado and Washington state approved 
initiatives legalizing the recreational use of marijuana.

While the details are being worked out, those watching the 
developments are in not only the United States. Mexico, too, is 
taking note, having paid an enormous price waging a costly - and, to 
a certain degree, futile - years-long crusade against drugs in 
consonance with the international community's punitive approach.

A growing number of Mexicans are asking logical questions: Why should 
their leaders follow a path that provokes violence, generates human 
rights violations, erodes the country's image abroad and costs a 
fortune - mainly to stem the northern flow of drugs?

Why spray and uproot marijuana fields in the hills of Oaxaca, search 
for tunnels in Tijuana and incarcerate "weed" traffickers in 
Monterrey if consumption is made legal in parts of the United States? 
Why deploy such an enormous effort to deter drug trafficking if 
Washington does virtually nothing to stop the flow of firearms to 
Mexico - and has concluded that it can, and should, prevent migrants 
from Mexico and Central America from entering the United States? If 
Congress can "secure" the border against people, using walls and 
drones, why can't it do the same against drugs or guns and, in the 
process, respect Mexico's right to design its own policies?

These sentiments are part of the reason for a change in Mexican 
attitudes toward drugs in general and marijuana in particular. Two 
former presidents - Ernesto Zedillo and Vicente Fox, who both 
vigorously fought drug trafficking and consumption while in office - 
have concluded that this approach is doomed and that a better policy 
would include decriminalizing marijuana use and commerce.

Then President Felipe Calderon called on the U.N. General Assembly 
last year to change its focus, eliminating the perverse incentives 
that strengthen transnational organized crime and gravely affect the 
rule of law and democracy in some countries.

Mexico is a highly conservative country whose population remains 
largely opposed to legalizing marijuana.

But an increasing number of business, political and academic leaders 
are shifting their views. The city council of Mexico City, which has 
authority to legislate health and law enforcement issues, is 
contemplating a measure that would, in effect, allow the regulated 
possession and use of marijuana. Already, Mexicans can legally 
possess five grams of marijuana, an amount much smaller than what is 
commonly sold, bought or shared.

Effectively decriminalizing marijuana would be in line with liberal 
attitudes in the capital and laws that rest on the firm belief that 
the right to privacy includes certain personal choices, even - or 
especially - when not shared by the majority.

We and other former cabinet secretaries - Pedro Aspe, finance 
minister to Carlos Salinas, and Juan Ramon de la Fuente, health 
minister to Zedillo - have joined with Mexico's leading public 
intellectual and a prominent social activist to push for legalization 
in Mexico City. The four of us occupied senior posts directly related 
to the drug issue in Mexico's previous four administrations. Along 
with Hector Aguilar Camin, editor of the monthly Nexos, and Maria 
Elena Morera, founder of Mexico Unido Contra la Delincuencia 
(Mexicans United Against Crime), we are encouraging Mexico City 
authorities to proceed promptly.

For practical and political reasons, our effort is limited to 
decriminalizing the use of marijuana in the federal district, though 
some believe that the same case can be easily made for other drugs in 
the whole country.

A reform that restrains its effects to marijuana is achievable; going 
further does not seem feasible today.

Another reason for moving slowly, though firmly, is the impact this 
decision would have on the relationship between Mexico and the United States.

President Enrique Pena Nieto opposes legalization but seems open to a 
broad debate and to whatever consensus would emerge - locally, 
nationally or regionally. He may accept Mexico City's decision even 
if he doesn't like it, much as President Obama seems to have resigned 
himself to the Colorado and Washington legislation. Mexico has 
ratified treaties banning illicit substances, but these international 
agreements allow governments to set their own policies within certain 
limits; consider Dutch and Portuguese leniency.

The United States should support its neighbor as it seeks leeway for 
its own stance, even if that conflicts with U.S. policy.

Mexicans have paid a high cost in the struggle against drugs.

We know that this war cannot be won. This fight should be waged by 
physicians rather than armed forces.

Decriminalization of marijuana is not a silver bullet, but it would 
be a major step away from a failed approach. Mexico City is the place 
to start, thanks to the example set in Colorado and Washington state.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom