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Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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 Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 7:43 pm Post subject: Mexico to legalize possession of personal amounts of drugs |
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Updated: 10:30 p.m. ET April 29, 2006
MEXICO CITY - The United States reacted cautiously on Saturday to a Mexican measure that would make it legal to carry small amounts of cocaine, heroin and other drugs for personal use.
News of the decriminalization did not make the front pages of any major Mexico City newspaper, nor was it discussed in editorials. It was slightly better publicized in the north of the country, where turf wars between rival drugs gangs have caused hundreds of killings along the Mexico-U.S. border, but was still overshadowed by news about immigration.
President Vicente Fox has yet to sign the bill, which would eliminate penalties for those caught with small amounts of some drugs, but his office has applauded it.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12535896/ |
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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 7:50 pm Post subject: |
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Amazing! Maybe, finally, this can be the beginning of the end of the silly war on drugs.
And if not, I'm looking forward to my move to the southern parts of the USA. Fun weekends will be had. |
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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 7:56 pm Post subject: |
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No wonder either.
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MONTERREY, Mexico, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Proud of itself as a Latin American success story, Mexico's richest city is being shaken by drug executions that terrify residents and damage its pro-business image.
At least 14 active and former police officers have been shot so far this year in narco killings in Monterrey, the latest a drive-by, machine-gun murder of two ex-policemen in broad daylight in the city's busy downtown at the weekend.
"It's petrifying. I'm just waiting for someone to come in here and rob the cash register," said gourmet deli owner Marina Arredondo in Monterrey's San Pedro district, Mexico's richest municipality where a senior crime investigator was killed last September.
Fifty-five people, including five police chiefs, were murdered in the Monterrey area by drug cartel hitmen in 2006 as kingpins fought over smuggling routes to the United States and hit back at a federal government drive against organized crime across Mexico.
The kidnapping of businessmen, seen until recently as a phenomenon exclusive to Mexico City, is now also on the rise in Monterrey, the capital of Nuevo Leon state.
"Violence and organized crime is at critical levels in Nuevo Leon," said state Attorney General Luis Carlos Trevino.
A few hours' drive from the U.S. border, Monterrey has a Texan feel to it, with its car culture, hamburger restaurants and manicured parks. Residents, known as "regios", are famed for being staid, conservative and canny with money.
PART OF MEXICO?
Nestled in picturesque mountains and home to some 4 million people, Monterrey is one of Latin America's premier business cities and has long thought of itself as apart from the rest of Mexico, where poverty and corruption are often the norm.
"Now corrupt police and organized crime make us look no better than the rest of Mexico," said Teofilo Sanchez, a shoe salesman at a Monterrey mall. "You can buy drugs on almost any corner now. It never used to be like that."
Across Mexico, some 2,000 people were killed last year in a feud between rival groups of drug smugglers. |
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N12393489.htm
Latin America, and especially Columbia, Brazil and Mexico resemble war zones in some parts due to the 'war on drugs'. Doing away with this nonsense is their first step towards healthy development. |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 7:57 pm Post subject: |
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a make-work project
as countless thousands of Mexican delivery boys will be hired to move small quantities to users (including tourists of course) without impunity during transit (only during the exchange will any care need to be taken)
Last edited by VanIslander on Mon Feb 12, 2007 7:58 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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dulouz
Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Location: Uranus
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| Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 7:57 pm Post subject: |
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| Laws don't work in Mexico, its a cosmetic change. |
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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 8:00 pm Post subject: |
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| dulouz wrote: |
| Laws don't work in Mexico, its a cosmetic change. |
As I understand it, you are right, but the reason that you are right is that the police are on the dole from the drug gangs and not concerned with law and order. |
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khyber
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Compunction Junction
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| Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 9:50 pm Post subject: |
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Did you noticed that this topic was almost a year old?
Not only that but I'm pretty sure that Fox reversed course and it didn't go through anyways. |
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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 9:57 pm Post subject: |
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This reuters article was posted 5 hours ago.
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1244305620070213
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MEXICO CITY (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. |
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jmbran11
Joined: 19 Jan 2006
Location: U.S.
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| Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 11:33 pm Post subject: |
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| I'm all for decriminalization, but how can people get small amounts of drugs (for personal use) if no one is permitted to carry large amounts for distribution? |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 2:41 am Post subject: |
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| jmbran11 wrote: |
| I'm all for decriminalization, but how can people get small amounts of drugs (for personal use) if no one is permitted to carry large amounts for distribution? |
it's a misnomer
it would likely become a finable offense, a misdemeanor, as the gov't wanted to do in canada
it's about relaxing enforcement and not jailing endusers. a good thing, unless you think fear and/or jail time is justified for users. |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 5:03 am Post subject: |
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| VanIslander wrote: |
| jmbran11 wrote: |
| I'm all for decriminalization, but how can people get small amounts of drugs (for personal use) if no one is permitted to carry large amounts for distribution? |
it's a misnomer
it would likely become a finable offense, a misdemeanor, as the gov't wanted to do in canada
it's about relaxing enforcement and not jailing endusers. a good thing, unless you think fear and/or jail time is justified for users. |
Excellent point. We prefer to put people who kill with their car in jail. We don't jail speeders. Neither is legal. It's pointless to fill the jails with people caught with a joint.
Bush won't at all be happy about this. But since the American political establishment has asked the Australian PM to hold his tongue about the American democratic system, Bush will extend the same respect to Mexican law makers. |
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igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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| Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2007 4:47 am Post subject: |
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| BJWD wrote: |
| dulouz wrote: |
| Laws don't work in Mexico, its a cosmetic change. |
As I understand it, you are right, but the reason that you are right is that the police are on the dole from the drug gangs and not concerned with law and order. |
Bad Boys ( & Girls ) Out On the Take. Profitting from the utter crookedness of prohibition.
More concerned as you imply, with their dirty swine bank accounts & life-long committment to corruption.
Criminal "Justice" System indeed ... 
While general stats. will automatically plummet, what will be most interesting to see is if the number of VIOLENT "drug" related "crimes" are reduced  |
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