Job Discussion Forums

[Guy Courchesne]

[john_n_carolina]

is this $500M more than normal? have a friend that used coke. he told me also that coke has become popular again. well, not overly popular, as in the 80's with crack. but, the late 90's - 05 was more marijuana (in H.S's and colleges). it always seems like drugs follow cultural trends. 60's pot, lsd, heroin. 80's coke with the rap culture starting. 90's, pot, etc as kids, college students were becoming very afraid of crack overdoses. and also, isn't there a very "slacker" type mentality in the youth today? now, with punk rock-fast rock making a return, seems low-base coke is making a return.

thanks for bringing the thread. this is a fascinating topic to me.

p.s. what drug (according to Paul McCartney) was used mainly during Sgt Pepper??

answer: cocaine

[Prof.Gringo]

I remember that ex-Pres. Fox was going to/had planned to decrim. small amounts of drugs being used by the end users/addicts. But he caved in under pressure from the Bush admin. I like how he touts Mexican solvency in his new book, but as Pres. of Mexico caved in to the US on many issues.

[john_n_carolina]

Mexico set to legalize pot, cocaine, heroin
Associated Press | May 1, 2006

MEXICO CITY, Mexico -- Mexico's Congress on Friday approved a bill decriminalizing possession of small quantities of marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine and even heroin for personal use, prompting U.S. criticism that the measure could harm anti-drug efforts.

The only step remaining was the signature of President Vicente Fox, whose office indicated he would sign the bill, which Mexican officials hope will allow police to focus on large-scale trafficking operations rather than minor drug busts.

"This law gives police and prosecutors better legal tools to combat drug crimes that do so much damage to our youth and children," said Fox's spokesman, Ruben Aguilar. (Watch as U.S. lawmakers react with outrage to the plan -- 1:46)

If Fox signs the measure and it becomes law, it could strain the two countries' cooperation in anti-drug efforts -- and increase the vast numbers of vacationing students who visit Mexico.

[john_n_carolina]

interesting to see what happens...maybe, they're following the lead of the Dutch?? id like to see / read some studies about the Dutch policy on drug use....are they having success now, after 20-30 years??

their policy has always been "to look the other way" with marijuana, but have very very strict penalties for heroin and cocaine.

[Guy Courchesne]

[john_n_carolina]

Mexico wants to partially decriminalize drugs
Mon Feb 12, 2007 7:30pm EST

MEXICO CITY, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Mexican President Felipe Calderon's government wants to decriminalize first-time possession of small amounts of drugs in a move likely to draw criticism from U.S. anti-narcotics officials.

Under the proposed legislation, users found for the first time with 2 grams (0.07 ounces) or less of marijuana and small amounts of other drugs ranging from cocaine to methamphetamine would not be prosecuted.

The bill passing through Mexico's Senate on its way to Congress is a toned down version of legislation Calderon's predecessor, Vicente Fox, pushed through last year but later vetoed after angry objections from Washington.

While the legally punishable amounts of drugs found on a first-time user are smaller than under last year's bill, the legislation appears to contrast with the tough stance Calderon has taken against drug-trafficking.

feb 12 2007??

[Guy Courchesne]

I wonder if the timing of the first bill was election related in Mexico?

[john_n_carolina]

....maybe, because it was just a few weeks or months before the '06 election??

[Guy Courchesne]

John, you're good at tracking down the news links. Think you can find out which congressman sponsored or floored the bill originally? I'd be interested to know which party put it up.

[john_n_carolina]

Congressman Gregorio Urias PRD

but, also "In 1998, then-Senator Maria del Carmen Bolado del Real, of the competing PAN (National Action Party) proposed a bill to legalize and regulate all drugs in Mexico"

[john_n_carolina]

The Mexican Legalization Movement
Drug Policy Reform Goes Mainstream South of the Border


By Dan Feder
Special to The Narco News Bulletin
January 20, 2003

�The war on drugs is a lost war,� says Mexican Congressman Gregorio Urias of the Northern State of Sinaloa, a region that has long suffered more than its share of the violence and corruption related to narco-trafficking. Sinaloa is often called �the cradle of Mexican narco-trafficking,� and Congressman Urias has had enough.

�Narco-trafficking has increased, controlled more capital, moved a greater volume of drugs, consumption has gone up, the consequences have gone up, the violence engendered by trafficking has gone up each year,� says Urias. The cause of all this trouble, says the Congressman, of the center-left PRD (Democratic Revolution Party), is not the drugs, but their illegality, and the current policy of prohibition is only making the problems worse.

In other words, Urias favors the legalization of drugs, and last year authored legislation in the national Congress to begin that process with the decriminalization of marijuana.

The Congressman wants to debate the effectiveness of the current policy of drug prohibition, but, he says, �This debate almost never happens in Mexico. Information should no longer be manipulated. The official information is distorted information. What I have proposed in the Latin American Parliament, and here in Mexico, is that there should be a debate.� The other options on the table, he says, should include the legalization or decriminalization of marijuana and other drugs.

Urias is not the first political leader to openly challenge the US-imposed policy of prohibition. In 1998, then-Senator Maria del Carmen Bolado del Real, of the competing PAN (National Action Party) proposed a bill to legalize and regulate all drugs in Mexico. In fact, leaders from almost every one of Mexico�s political parties have advocated this solution at one time or another � including President Vicente Fox, who, in 2001, predicted that decriminalization of drugs would be inevitable as a global solution � but the commercial media never picks up on the debate and it has been difficult for reform advocates to gain traction.