Mexico passes drug legalization law

so did Argentina

http://current.com/items/90797866_argentina-decriminalizes-marijuana.htm

uuuuh I mean plastic bags……. thanks either way mexico.. this TEXAS lady will be visiting ya sometime soon!

legalize medical marijuana, Doctors and nurses have seen that for many patients, cannabis is more useful, less toxic, and less expensive than the conventional medicines prescribed for diverse syndromes and symptoms, including multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, migraine headaches, severe nausea and vomiting, convulsive disorders, the AIDS wasting syndrome, chronic pain, and many others.”

In theory, through legalization the Mexican government would tax and regulate the drug trade and use the money generated from this to educate the public about the risks of drug-taking and to treat addicts.

In theory, legalization would push prices down as drugs would become easily available and because reputable pharmaceutical companies would get involved in the development and distribution of safe and cheap alternatives.

Ha ha ha. What I would like to see is the implementation process of this theory.

Let’s say that Mexico decides to legalize drugs and by definition the drug trade. Then what? Mr. Drug Baron, who is already paying hefty bribes on both sides of the border to run his business and has a complicated network that goes all the way from producing to distributing and pushing, agrees with this ‘wonderful’ idea and goes legal?

So he registers “Fumate Un Churro S.A.” in Mexico and “Fly High Inc.” in the U.S.A. Enrolls his gangsters in the IMSS (social security), exchanges their guns for business cards, starts raising invoices, paying taxes and allowing the government to regulate the selling price of this produce? All these to see his revenues and profits plummet because the demand is not there anymore as Pfizer and Novartis are producing safer and cheaper alternatives to good’ol coke and marihuana?

Ha ha ha. Wake up and smell the coffee! Legalizing drugs without getting rid of the drug cartels FIRST will only give users a cheaper ride to lah-lah-land and will increase the violence exponentially.

So, how about having the Americans commit to selling to someone else the top-notch weapons that have been empowering the drug cartels? Hey! How about giving those weapons to the Mexican drug squads instead so that they can fight on equal grounds with the gangsters? … and how about if the Americans lend Mexican authorities their international agents, specialized in finding the really bad guys (the ones that found Sadam Hussein, please, not the ones that are still looking for Osama Bin Laden) to locate the drug barons? This way you leave the ‘little bad guys’ headless and under-armed and easier to control … and then, we can all take a ride on those 3 Black Hawks that the USA so kindly suggested to donate to fight the drug war, and we can all can take some lovely aerial pictures of a safer Mexico.

I live in northern Mexico.  Believe me, nobody around here has heard of this as of July 2011.  Laws in Mexico are often a matter of definition and opinion by the local police or municipal judge.  On the other hand, a lot of things are much more legal for a “wealthy” gringo than for a poor local.  For instance, I learned yesterday that it’s actually not very illegal for a gringo to do 95  mph in a 35 mph zone.  And I thought I was in trouble. 

But be aware that in Mexico the law is much more dependent on the locals than in the US.  Half a gram of  pot may theoretically be legal but it might be very expensive and time consuming proving it to the local magistrate.