Mexico’s drug decriminalization policy

April 29, 2006

(Just one more quick post before I sign off. A big thanks to the Carpetbagger for giving me this opportunity to blog here today. I’m a long-time fan and daily reader of TCR, and it’s great to be able to write for you all.)

This is somewhat startling news from Mexico:

Possessing marijuana, cocaine and even heroin will no longer be a crime in Mexico if the drugs are carried in small amounts for personal use, under legislation passed by Congress.

The measure given final passage by senators in a late night session on Thursday allows police to focus on their battle against major drug dealers, the government says, and President Vicente Fox is expected to sign it into law…

Under the legislation, police will not penalize people for possessing up to 5 grams of marijuana, 5 grams of opium, 25 milligrams of heroin or 500 milligrams of cocaine.

People caught with larger quantities of drugs will be treated as narcotics dealers and face increased jail terms under the plan.

The legal changes will also decriminalize the possession of limited quantities of other drugs, including LSD, hallucinogenic mushrooms, amphetamines and peyote — a psychotropic cactus found in Mexico’s northern deserts.

The first thing that comes to mind is Steven Soderbergh’s great film Traffic. If this is Mexico’s new reality-based policy — one that is humane rather than purely punitive — isn’t it about time the U.S. rethink the whole “War on Drugs” approach (which has been an utter failure, has it not?) and consider alternative ways of dealing with drug use?

It seems to me that Mexico, which has been on the front line (and the front line) of the drug wars, is on the right track.

April 29, 2006 at 5:10 pm

I’ve always thought the “war” on drugs was draconian in the extreme, and a waste of time. With the black market out there, you can get anything you want. It’s only if you get caught that there’s a problem. I know several “dealers” myself, and they have been operating for years, though under the radar of the DEA and its local affiliates (of course, good ol’ Jeb has cut funding for state police forces so much that it’s no wonder).

On the contrary, the war on drugs has been a tremendous success. It has accomplished everything its originators had hoped. Millions of poor people in jail, high prices for drugs, funding for the CIA, $600 billion a year in low interest capital for Wall Street, and a police state. What more can you ask for?

I agree. Decriminalize possession of small
amounts. I don’t know if puritanical America is
capable of such common sense and compassion,
however.

There’s something about the picture of puritanical America and its fame for wallowing in drugs, having an enormous market. But it’s true, though it’s that combo of puritanism and hypocrisy that we’ve mastered over the years. I don’t think there ever should have been a war on drugs. Instead we need an effective societal reaction to addiction in general, from drugs (legal and illegal) to booze to fat to sugar to credit cards to… How can we turn our addictive culture into a less depressed, less dependent, better adjusted one?

BTW, for anyone who hasn’t seen the original “Traffik,” the one the film “Traffic” was based on, it’s highly recommended. Blew me away when I saw it. You really get to understand the, well, pyramid scheme the drug market is based on, the extent to which it has its tentacles in legitimate businesses. I don’t remember the American movie dealing with that, with the money laundering that reaps huge profits for American banks, etc. That’s one reason we have a war on drugs — focusing on the traffickers and the users — making sure the searchlight doesn’t fall on their very respectable enablers in our economic and political system…

I am stunned by this decision out of Mexico.
Absolutely stunned.

This is a big deal.

This is the sort of big time progessive move one would expect from Canada or Denmark or Norway.

But it is Mexico!

Phenomenal.

I’d like to know more about the thinkers and doers and movers behind the scenes.

One thing is absolutely certain though:

With this vote… Mexican Democracy has shown it doesn’t give a fuck what Bush’s America thinks.

Once upon a time… that sort of independence was unthinkable.

In other words: Bush has totally + totally squandered any moral authority America once could claim.

Mexico just told Bush to shut up.
And they did it with a grin on their faces.

OLE!

Thanks for your excellent posts today, Michael. Very thought provoking.

That’s a very progressive new policy in Mexico. Not every person who possesses some dope is a wasted unproductive citizen. But every person in jail is an unproductive citizen, made so by draconian drug laws and attitudes. It’s part of the moralizing on the right as exemplified by hypocrite, Rush Limbaugh.

One effect of the Drug War the Enron crowd and the neocon crowd probably favor is that it helps create / maintain an underclass. It keeps poor Black and Hispanic people that get busted from getting ahead in life, and it creates fodder for them and the families to be resentful of the system and to feel it’s rigged against them. Law-and-order types can say all they want that those feelings are unjustified, but the fact is that possessing a small amount of drugs is just not nearly as culpable an act as say, a robbery or a home invasion, even if there may be some violent people involved in the drug trade. It’s really kind of common sense for the many people who consume small amounts of illegal drugs on a regular basis, but who live healthy, moral and productive lives, to feel violated by a system that can lock them and their neighbors up for that act.

I’m sure though some people see a big personal value to making it as hard as possible for as big a portion of America as possible to get a good education- as Frederick Douglas said, “knowledge unfits one to be a slave.” These people just have to find politically tenable ways to keep ordinary people from attaining knowledge and leading productive, informed lives. The Drug War is part of that, and it’s also a product of racism.

The whole point of the “War on Some Drugs” — as Robert Anton Wilson calls it– has been to put poor people (particularly black and hispanic) in jail and take away their voting rights (Florida “felon’s list” anyone?). In that sense it certainly has “succeeded” in acheiving its goals.

Wow. Gosh. Remarkable.

If things like this keep happening, the draconian Republikanners will finally build their coast-to-coast walls, and close the borders…to keep all of us in. “Reefer Madness” will be remade into an afternoon “story,” with daily episodes of helicopter gunships and attack dogs hunting down anyone who dares attempt a border-crossing—inbound or outbound—and “bringing them to justice.”

Ring any Vonnegut bells?

It’s also hilarious how Amerika’s “war on drugs” has literally turned into a two-front war—and any strategist worth his own salt will tell you that such a war cannot be won. It’s time to kick the moralizing hyperbole to the curb….

For any teachers out there, here’s one good way to show your students how messed up this country still is- challenge them to find out what percentage of people in prison in the country or in your state are there because they violated parole when they were caught with dirty urine.

When they come back with an answer, ask them to think of the people they know in the school, or at their workplace, or even just to look around the room, and think how many would there be out of all the people they know there who would be in prison if all it took to put them there was a dirty urine sample on a test they took that day. This is an issue that people really need to get on top of and dramatizing it like that is how you make it real.

Am I seriously the only person wondering how someone is supposed to get these small amounts of drugs without dealing with someone with, under Mexican law, is a criminal? Or do dealers now only buy pot at five ounces a time? Honestly, doesn’t it concern anyone else that it’s going to be legal to buy and possess drugs, but not sell them? Or if it doesn’t concern you, doesn’t it atleast confuse you a little bit?

Folks…. this is bigger than mere drugs.

You are missing the forest here if you concentrate on just a few psychotropic trees.

What’s going on here is the liberation of Central and South America from the tendrils of US geopolitical control.

This is a huge “FUCK YOU” to the USA.

HUGE.

Set this up on the same stage as Cuba & Bolivia & Venezuela’s trade pact.

Set this up on the same stage as Iran thumbing its nose at US saber rattling.

Set this up on the same stage as that reporter who totally burned the moustache off of John Bolten.

The World no longer gives a damn, or fears, America.
The World no longer worries about American repercussions.

Yes I agee we can talk about Mexico’s decision in terms of sane or insane drug policy.

But that misses the larger point: Mexico doesn’t take orders from the White House anymore.

Let’s be very clear here:

America has lost prestige in the world.
America has lost moral authority in the world.
America is to be ridiculed and ignored and taunted.

THAT’S BUSH’S LEGACY.

He’s taken the strongest, most admired nation on earth… and made us into just another third-world banana republic to be sneered at.

[Note: When Bolten asks the girl in the clip who she works for… the threat is smugly implied: I’m going to get your ass fired or your paper banned. That’s been the de facto policy of this country towards internal and external dissenters since 2000. But Bolten and his vile crew have been so totally discredited that no one fears neocon threats anymore. And so bless her heart… she (the reporter) virtually calls Bolten a war criminal.]

The War on Drugs is being fought SO stupidly.

If you want to destroy an industry, which recreational drugs is, there is only one way.

Product liability.

Considering that drugs work as recreation by destroying parts of your brain, one can see the liability of the product.

Of course, alcohol and tabbaco don’t want to see this model tried or succeed.

This is an evil law.

People caught with larger quantities of drugs will be treated as narcotics dealers and face increased jail terms under the plan.

5 grams ot marijuana is less than a quarter once.
25 milligrams of herion is .025 grams
500 milligrams is .5 grams or a half of gram

Anything more than this and you are considered a dealer.

People caught with larger quantities of drugs will be treated as narcotics dealers and face increased jail terms under the plan.

Don’t know how I feel about this. As a recovering alcoholic, 18 years clean, I know something about addiction. As a father of a 17 year old, I also know something about how teens are abusing alcohol and drugs, illegal and legal, these days. The rehabs are full of teens and kids in their 20’s, not 40-50 year old geezers they used to be. Medical research has shown that damage to developing brains through abuse is far more severe than to adult brains, crippling these kids for life.

Some people get away with using, and some don’t — and the results can be devastating. Now, those who become addicted will exceed posession Mexico’s limits.

Drug issues can only be solved by reducing demand: teaching our kids better, helping them value themselves and others, and making abuse socially unacceptable. My opinion, of course.

It is a step in the right direction, but the quantities are too small. Addicts will be forced to buy in smaller quantities at higher prices. It seems like a boon to the drug dealers.

Drug issues can only be solved by reducing demand: teaching our kids better, helping them value themselves and others, and making abuse socially unacceptable. My opinion, of course. (#15)

With 5% of the world’s population, we have 25% of the world’s prison population. The war on drugs has been a catastrophic failure. Draconian prison sentences have never stopped people from using drugs. They have only ruined the lives of people who use drugs.

I agree that we should focus on reducing demand as well. But we can’t do that by legislating behavior. If we haven’t learned that from the war on drugs, there really isn’t much hope for us.

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Thank you all for your great comments. It was a pleasure to blog here.

Watch “Traffik” the British series, which really talks about the real issues of the subject – and which shows that my industry at its best (which “Traffic” certainly tried to be) can only create shallow bullshit in comparison. When it’s 3 inches deep (like “Traffic”) rather than the usual 2 micro-millimeters, they call it “deep.”

Yer Hollyweird Reporter

I agree with #12, this move by Mexico is a big thumbed nose at the US, and will also improve their tourism numbers 10 fold this summer.

This is an immensely progressive step–and goes beyond what Canada has done. I agree with one commenter that the amounts for personal use, at least in the case of marijuana, seem too small. 15 grams would make more sense than 5, but OTOH, smart dealers will create 5-gram packets. Indeed, why not have 5-gram packets sold in liquor stores? What will be interesting is to see how this plays out over the next two years, and what modifications are made based on experience. One thing is sure, the US DEA and its supporters are going to have a conniption fit. They want all countries to obey our laws, and are not above international political pressure.

As others have pointed out, 5 grams of pot is a very, very small amount. Hell, I used to go through that in an hour while in college.

While right in theory, in practice it is nothing more than window dressing.

Besides, we all know the best stuff comes from north of the border …

🙂

I’m not buying it. I live a couple of hours from the border and are they seriously telling me I am going to be able to Mexico and buy LSD & Peyote legally. Sorry, but there has to be a catch.

New ad slogan, “Mexico, the new Amsterdam.”

Actually, possession of more than 5 grams of Pot in Amsterdam is technically illegal. Selling or growing any amount of Pot in Amsterdam is also technically illegal. However, Holland introduced a licensing scheme for retailers, distributors and producers that allows for legal sale and production, so long as they are licensed by the government. Under this scheme, the max that can be sold is 5 grams at a time, even though the law techniclally states otherwise.

I suspect that is exactly what Mexico is doing. These limits will end up being the amounts that can be legally sold by those licensed by the government. That is the only way to achieve the bill’s stated purposes and eliminate the blackmarket element, and raise tax revenues.

I believe the US government has already attacked Mexico for this policy change, signaling that no change in our insane policies is in the offing (what a surprise!).

The War on Some Drugs succeeded in getting people to welcome, and take for granted, behavior from our law enforcement agents that 25 years ago would have had them on the street.

Even though I think it’s a good idea, mexico has played right into Bush’s hands.What better reason could Bush have to compleatly close the boarders,than an incalculable influx of recently leagalized drugs.Bush will be able to shift the focus of boarder control from reasons of illegal immigrants(a divided issue at best) and terrorism(profiling issues) to drug trafficing(little to no opposition).Personaly i’m for anything that will improve mexico, and reduce the incredible level of corruption in it’s officials and local police.It’s partialy this corruption that supports the saying “I dont mind visiting,but I wouldnt want to live there”. Sadly enough neither do they.You may think I’m going off tangent,but I’m not.Boarder problems come from an unrelenting exodus,the exodus comes from an unacceptable quality of life,and this poor quality of life is due in large part to corruption.decriminalization of minor drug possesion will reduce bribes, payoffs, and hush- money.

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You guys are missing something very important.
Its not necessarily 5 grams of POT, it could be hash or oil yesh?

I think people who say this will “corrupt” their children are crazy, because who takes an 11 year old to mexico unattended anyway? I mean if they decriminalize it or not their are many things children should not see down there. I think people on this side of the border should stop telling them not to sign it because it’s their country. This country thinks it has the power to tell everyone what to do.

I really hope that president Fox didn’t cave-in to U.S. pressures. Apparently nothing was suppose to get in his way regarding signing this bill. I’m just hoping that he is playing a head game with the barking Bush dogs and allowing some of the hype and overt attention to die down before actually signing.
Personally I have been looking for another country to move too ever since the police state addiction of the U.S. took hold with out any hope of repentance. That said of course with complete remorse. The truth is, I love America because it was free; I don’t love freedom because it was American. And now that the bastards in Washington, and these ultra religeous concervatives have prostituted and squandered everything that freedom actually stands for, I rejoice when I see other powers that be refusing to bowe to the demands of the white house!!!!!!!

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