Thread: Growing Number of Top Officials: Legalize Marijuana

A growing number of top Mexican and Latin American officials, among others, are calling for the U.S. to cease its criminalization of marijuana, and for good reason. The laws have done far more harm to society than the drug itself, north and south of the border. At least marijuana: This may not be the most popular opinion, but I contend that we should largely cease targeting cocaine as well. This would virtually eliminate the cartels that traffic marijuana and cocaine.



Hopefully, officials south of the border will go ahead and cease the war. This would let the cartels beat hardliner U.S. offcials into submission. This would be optimal because U.S. government refuses to this day to mindfully address this issue.

In the 40 years since U.S. President Richard Nixon declared a "war on drugs," the supply and use of drugs has not changed in any fundamental way. The only difference: a taxpayer bill of more than $1 trillion.



A senior Mexican official who has spent more than two decades helping fight the government's war on drugs summed up recently what he's learned from his long career: "This war is not winnable."





Associated Press

A man accused of involvement in a shooting of federal police officers was presented to the press at a news conference in Tijuana, Mexico, in October, holding an unloaded gun allegedly connected to the crime.

Just last week, Mexican Navy Special Forces swarmed a luxury apartment tower in a central city and gunned down Arturo Beltrán Leyva, a drug trafficker whose organization helped smuggle several billion dollars worth of cocaine and marijuana into the U.S. during the past decade, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.



Within days of Mr. Beltrán Leyva's death, Mexican officials were already trying to guess which of his lieutenants would take his place. Almost no one expected the death of Mr. Beltrán Leyva to slow down the business of drug trafficking or the horrific drug-related violence in Mexico that has claimed around 15,000 lives in the past three years. On Monday, hit men gunned down several family members of a Mexican naval officer who had been killed in the Beltrán Leyva raid. Four people have been arrested in connection with the killing, though Mexican authorities say the hit men are still at large.



Growing numbers of Mexican and U.S. officials say—at least privately—that the biggest step in hurting the business operations of Mexican cartels would be simply to legalize their main product: marijuana. Long the world's most popular illegal drug, marijuana accounts for more than half the revenues of Mexican cartels.



"Economically, there is no argument or solution other than legalization, at least of marijuana," said the top Mexican official matter-of-factly. The official said such a move would likely shift marijuana production entirely to places like California, where the drug can be grown more efficiently and closer to consumers. "Mexico's objective should be to make the U.S. self-sufficient in marijuana," he added with a grin.



He is not alone in his views. Earlier this year, three former Latin American presidents known for their free-market and conservative credentials—Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico, Cesar Gaviria of Colombia and Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil—said governments should seriously consider legalizing marijuana as an effective tool against murderous drug gangs...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704254604574614230731506644.html

Well duh.



I never ceased to be amazed that in this day and age anyone would still consider marijuana to be worth the cost of keeping it illegal.

[quote name='Blueneck' date='26 December 2009 - 06:03 PM' timestamp='1261868634' post='86368']

Well duh.



I never ceased to be amazed that in this day and age anyone would still consider marijuana to be worth the cost of keeping it illegal.

[/quote]



Right, but now we have more and more people in high positions in numerous governments saying this.



And it isn't about the drug. It's about the violence and oppression associated with it's trafficking, whether it's cocaine or marijuana.

Haha.



You said growing.

[quote name='Bluegrass' date='26 December 2009 - 06:08 PM' timestamp='1261868898' post='86369']

Right, but now we have more and more people in high positions in numerous governments saying this.



And it isn't about the drug. It's about the violence and oppression associated with it's trafficking, whether it's cocaine or marijuana.

[/quote]



I always thought part of the reason marijuana was illegal was because you can grow your own quite easily and there would be no way to tax it.

[quote name='Blueneck' date='26 December 2009 - 06:32 PM' timestamp='1261873973' post='86397']

I always thought part of the reason marijuana was illegal was because you can grow your own quite easily and there would be no way to tax it.

[/quote]

Wrong. Marijuana is illegal because of the applications for hemp.

[quote name='Blueneck' date='26 December 2009 - 07:32 PM' timestamp='1261873973' post='86397']

I always thought part of the reason marijuana was illegal was because you can grow your own quite easily and there would be no way to tax it.

[/quote]

Why not? Farmers pay taxes on what they sell don't they?

[quote name='Six' date='26 December 2009 - 08:22 PM' timestamp='1261876930' post='86414']

Wow. Why legalize a substance that has a negative effect on just about anyone who uses to a society ? It should remain illegal.

[/quote]



marijuana has medical uses. Does tequila?