North America’s Largest City Moves to Legalize Pot

TIME
By Ioan Grillo
Oct. 14, 2013

Though deprived of sunlight and breathing the smog-ridden air of Mexico’s mountain capital, the marijuana plants, from a strain known as purple kush, reach 0.9 m in a brick home at a middle-class suburb. They are alimented with electric lights and kept behind closed curtains by the owner, who says he grows them to smoke himself. If police found them, he could be nailed for drug production and face a hefty prison sentence under laws designed to tackle the country’s ultraviolent cartels.  Read more. 

Former Mexican President Fox Urges Marijuana Legalization

NY Times
By  Reauters
July 8, 2013

Former Mexican President Vicente Fox took his crusade to legalize marijuana to San Francisco on Monday, joining pot advocates to urge the United States and his own country to decriminalize the sale and recreational use of cannabis.

Fox met for three hours with the advocates, including Steve DeAngelo, the Oakland-based executive director of California's largest marijuana dispensary, and former Microsoft executive Jamen Shively, who hopes to create a Seattle-based pot brand now that Washington state has legalized recreational use.  Read more.

South America Sees Drug Path to Legalization

NY Times: MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — The agricultural output of this country includes rice, soybeans and wheat. Soon, though, the government may get its hands dirty with a far more complicated crop — marijuana — as part of a rising movement in this region to create alternatives to the United States-led war on drugs.

Uruguay’s famously rebellious president first called for “regulated and controlled legalization of marijuana” in a security plan unveiled last month. And now all anyone here can talk about are the potential impacts of a formal market for what Ronald Reagan once described as “probably the most dangerous drug in America.” Read more.

Mexico Drug War: Enrique Pena Nieto Could Target Small Gangs

AP: MEXICO CITY -- Mexico's next president has boldly promised to halve the number of kidnappings and murders during his six-year term by moving law enforcement away from showy drug busts and focusing on protecting ordinary citizens from gangs.

Yet Enrique Pena Nieto said remarkably little specific about his anti-crime strategy during the three-month campaign that ended with his still-contested victory in Sunday's election.

That ambiguity has fed fears at home and abroad that Pena Nieto might look the other way if cartels smuggle drugs northward without creating violence in Mexico. Many analysts wonder if Pena Nieto is holding back politically sensitive details of his plans, or simply doesn't know yet how he'll be prosecute the next stage of Mexico's drug war.

Some hints are starting to seep out. A close acquaintance, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, told The Associated Press that the president-elect has discussed a new offensive against the smaller, local gangs that have cropped up in many Mexican states and earn money through kidnapping and extortion in addition to drug dealing. Read more.

Obama Defends War on Medical Marijuana With Lame Excuses

StoptheDrugWar.org: "Finally, finally, finally, someone in the press has managed to corner the President on the question of why the war on medical marijuana is getting worse under his watch. Here you go folks, the answer we've been waiting for…

Let me ask you about the War on Drugs. You vowed in 2008, when you were running for election, that you would not "use Justice Department resources to try and circumvent state laws about medical marijuana." Yet we just ran a story that shows your administration is launching more raids on medical pot than the Bush administration did. What's up with that?" read more

White House Drug Policy Shifts Strategy

Philadelphia Inquirer: "The Obama Administration has chosen the middle ground with its new drug control policy, advocating treatment over tough sentencing.

The approach, unveiled Tuesday, rejects both the harsh "war on drugs" approach, characterized by maximum sentences for drug offenses, and the push to legalize illegal drugs.

Gil Kerlikowske, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said during a news conference Tuesday that both approaches were "not humane or realistic, and not grounded in scientific evidence. read more

New Strategy in Drug War Focuses on Treatment, Not Punishment

HispanicBusiness.com: The Obama Administration unveiled a new strategy to combat drug abuse focusing on treatment rather than throwing drug abusers in jail.

"This is nothing short of a revolution in how we approach drug control," said Gil Kerlikowske, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, who said the new strategy would be guided by the principle that addiction is a treatable disease, that those addicted to drugs could recover and that innovative criminal justice reforms could stop the revolving door of drug use, crime, imprisonment and eventual and inevitable rearrest.

"We are not going to arrest our way out of this problem," he said. read more

Converts and sceptics on road to reform

Support for alternatives to the US-backed, militarized drug war model has gone global. Here, an opinion article from the Sydney Morning Herald recounts the discussion, and support for alternative methods, in Australia.

The Sydney Morning Herald: "Michael Wooldridge, professor and former health minister, has fought and lost a battle to coax a prime minister to see the sense of decriminalising drugs.

It was Wooldridge who came close, but ultimately failed, to secure the approval of then prime minister John Howard for a prescribed heroin centre in Canberra.

So he was hardly shocked when Julia Gillard rejected the call by him and a score of other eminent citizens for a fresh debate about taking illicit drugs out of the grasp of criminals." read more

Is the 'war on drugs' really accomplishing anything?

SILive.com: "Mark Kleiman of UCLA, a policy analyst, was recently discussing drug policy with someone who said he had no experience with illegal drugs, not even marijuana, because he is of “the gin generation.”

Ah, said Kleiman, gin: “A much more dangerous drug.”

Twenty percent of all American prisoners - 500,000 people - are incarcerated for dealing illegal drugs, but alcohol causes as much as half of America’s criminal violence and vehicular fatalities. read more

Which is the bigger problem - Drugs, or the war on drugs?

The Baxter Bulletin: "When a former Mexican president comes to town, you might expect drugs to be discussed. You might not expect a pitch for legalizing them.

But, there was Vicente Fox, who led Mexico from 2000 to 2006, sharing a cocktail with a group at the Des Moines condo of Connie Wimer and Frank Fogarty and declaring: “With all of those who drink alcohol, 8½ percent die from it; 4½ percent die of cigarette smoking; 0.04 percent die of drugs. And I don’t know of anyone who has died from marijuana.”" read more

Drug Policy Debate: Santos will Encourage Discussion on Drugs in the Summit of the Americas

El Milenio- After admitting that the fight against drug trafficking “is failing,” President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, host of the sixth Summit of the Americas, announced today that he will encourage a debate about illicit drugs in the upcoming continental forum April 14th and 15th.

According to the President’s comments, after looking at what has transpired over 40 years of combat against drug traffickers, Colombia has spilt the most blood. Santos declared that everyone must be willing to analyze all options to this problem during the meeting which will take place in the Colombian resort town of Cartagena.

“I am open to any option that might be better than what we have today and that the world stands beside. Colombia cannot even think about taking any unilateral actions,” said Santos, pointing out that for his country, the battle against drug trafficking is “an issue of national security.”

Colombia “can’t afford to lower its guard,” affirmed Santos in a television interview with “El Gran Reportaje (Grand Report).” “I believe that we have the moral authority, as a country, to open the discussion” in the upcoming Summit of the Americas where the 34 heads of state from each of the continent’s countries will meet.

After commenting that the war on drugs “is failing,” he referred to the United States’ opposition to the legalization of hallucinogenic drugs. “The United States says that legalization is worse. Well, let’s analyze whether it’s better or worse. For example, if the number of addicts rises, how much will it cost to treat those addicts compared to the cost of having a half-million, or who knows how many, people in prison for using or selling drugs,” he said.

“We cannot do anything if we don’t have concrete data and if we don’t analyze that data with experts,” Santos added while insisting in the necessity of “discussing the topic.” However, he warned that he would not be “the spokesperson for any cause” nor “the flag bearer of any initiative.”

“Simply put, along with many other countries, we are going to bring the conversation to the table. And we are going to participate very actively in the discussion—because, what’s more, we are one of the countries with the most experience in this area and with more moral authority on this issue,” Santos pointed out.

Colombia, which according to the UN is the main producer of cocaine in the world, waged an especially bloody war against the powerful drug cartels of Medellín and Cali in the 1980s. Spanish original

Translation: Mikael Rojas, Americas Program intern 

U.S.-Mexican Politics and The U.S. Role in Mexico's Drug War

The Left Forum is holding its annual conference March 16-18 at Pace University in New York City. One of the panels is on the U.S. Role in Mexico's Drug War. Among the panelist is Ethan Nadelman, Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance. Wish we could be there. If you are in NYC, go! Conference informantion at the Left Forum.

Left Forum: "The panel will examine the multiple political, economic and military roles played by U.S. institutions in Mexico’s militarized "War Against Organized Crime." It will attempt to identify the major domestic and international institutions that have a stake in Mexico's internal "war," and in the role this "war" plays in the broader U.S.-sponsored war against drugs, various forms of dissent and "terrorism." It will also address the internal resistance to the militarization of the drug war." read more

Drug Policy Debate: It’s time to end the war on drugs

On Tuesday March 13th, "It's Time to end the War on Drugs", is being hosted by Google+ and the world's largest debating forum Intelligence². An eclectic mix of celebrities, public figures and politicians will be speaking either for or against the title motion. Among them are Sir Richard Branson, Russell Brand, Julian Assange, author Misha Glenny, former president of Mexico Vincente Fox, Peter Hitchens, and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour, and former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ian Blair.


Intelligence Squared: "To liberalise or prohibit, that is the question. And to answer it the masters of live debate have joined forces with the masters of web technology to create a never-seen-before combination of Oxford debating and Silicon Valley prowess.

Prohibitionists argue that legalising anything increases its consumption. The world has enough of a problem with legal drugs like alcohol and tobacco, so why add to the problem by legalising cannabis, cocaine and heroin?

The liberalisers say prohibition doesn’t work. By declaring certain drugs illegal we haven’t reduced consumption or solved any problem. Instead we’ve created an epidemic of crime, illness, failed states and money laundering.

Julian Assange and Richard Branson; Russell Brand and Misha Glenny; Geoffrey Robertson and Eliot Spitzer. Experts, orators and celebrities who’ve made this their cause – come and see them lock horns in a new Intelligence²/Google+ debate format. Some of our speakers will be on stage in London, others beamed in from Mexico City or São Paulo or New Orleans, all thanks to the “Hangout” tool on Google+." learn more

Drug Policy Debate: We are not close to winning the war against the narcos: Head of OAS

La Jornada: "The secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, said that "we need to try something else" in the fight against drugs that is being let loose on the continent, because "we are not close to winning" this war: "How many more things have to happen for this to end, how many more prisoners, what quantity of drugs should be confiscated?" he asked.

He said it is necessary to seek other strategies that place greater emphasis on demand in the drug-consuming countries and on the attack on bank secrecy and hidden money flows.

At the conference, "The Inter-American Order Faces the Challenges of Globalization: old and new actors in the world order," held at the Autonomous Metropolitan University of Xochimilco, Insulza pointed out: "We have many prisoners in the Americas resulting from the war against organized crime and we have also confiscated much wealth, but for some reason it doesn't appear that we may be having much success." He said that the drug war grabbed hold of President Nixon at the beginning of the decade of the 70's." And he asked if, after more than 40 years of this struggle, the outcome is a failure.

"To use the word failure properly, one has to understand that in 2010, according to estimates by international agencies, nearly half the cocaine shipments in the world were seized, and of the 3,600,000 people throughout the Americans (outside the U.S.) who are in prison, one third is for drugs. "That is, more than 1,200,000 people in (Latin) America are locked up because of drugs...." Spanish original

Laura's Blog: Doing Biden's Bidding

Vice President Joe Biden landed in Mexico City last night and he’s left little doubt about his mission—to lock in the regional drug war. His visit comes at a time of mounting calls to end prohibitionist laws and the drug war model.

Biden will be in Mexico City all day Monday meeting with President Felipe Calderon and presidential candidates, then in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Tuesday, where he'll meet with President Porfirio Lobo and have a "working lunch" with Central American presidents.

On a March 1 call with the press, a reporter asked whether the drug war would be on the agenda at the meeting with Central American presidents. Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Dan Restrepo, replied,

"The Obama administration has been quite clear in our opposition to decriminalization or legalization of illicit drugs. At the same time, we've also been very open--the President has said it on numerous occasions, in meetings with leaders and publicly--of our willingness, our interest, in engaging in a robust dialogue with our partners to determine how we can be most effective in confronting the transnational criminal organizations, and, in this case in Central America, the gangs that are adversely affecting people's daily lives and daily routines."

His message is that the administration that presides over the nation with the largest illegal drug market in the world and actively funds a global war to enforce ineffective prohibition policies will not consider any form of legalization. But it supports "dialogue."

Can that position really qualify as dialogue? A dialogue on how to "be most effective in confronting transnational criminal organizations" must start from the recognition that the current U.S. strategy has increased violence, done nothing to reduce crime or illicit drug flows and had a devastating impact on "people's daily lives and daily routines" in Mexico and Central America.

A real discussion on effective strategies has to include the option of legalization. The Obama administration seems determined to block that option, despite a growing number of calls for discussion on legalization that include former presidents of Brazil, Mexico and Colombia and current presidents Santos of Colombia and Perez Molina of Guatemala.

Biden is just the latest envoy in U.S. diplomatic offensive to bolster the drug war. On Feb. 27, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was in Guatemala with the same message. “The United States does not view decriminalization as a viable way to deal with the narcotics problem,” she told Perez Molina.

Pérez Molina recently called for decriminalization in the region and he reiterated his position at the meeting with Napolitano. “We are calling for a discussion, a debate. And we continue to insist... We want to open a debate to find a more effective way to fight drug trafficking.” The Guatemalan government has begun to lobby other Central American countries on the issue in anticipation of the meeting this week. Biden appears to have been charged on this trip with deterring any move toward legalization in the region and aligning nations in the war on drugs.

He has a tough road ahead of him. Latin American citizens and government leaders are openly protesting a model where their nations pay in blood and lives to fill U.S. defense contractor’s pockets and spread the Pentagon’s global reach--with few, if any, positive results. In Mexico, thousands filled the Central Plaza to draw the outlines of 60,000 dead in the drug war on the large esplanade in front of the National Palace and the citizen Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity is planning a summer caravan through the United States to protest U.S. aid for the drug war through the Merida Initiative.

The Mexican daily La Jornada published an editorial Feb. 24 calling for debate on decriminalization and commenting on a statement by Sec. of Foreign Relations, Patricia Espinosa, that the Mexican government is against decriminalization but would consider debate. It concluded:

"Perhaps if the debate on the decriminalization of drugs had been begun before adopting the present course regarding public security, the country would have saved countless lives, widespread social suffering, grave processes of institutional breakdown and astronomical monetary resources. In whatever form, it is urgent and impossible to postpone the analysis of alternatives to the failure of a drug policy that is one only of the police, the military and the judiciary. In that sense anyone who takes this position--though it may be late and contradictory--is welcome."

Despite the praise that has been and will be lavished on Calderon for his drug war, for other countries, Mexico has become the example of why NOT to pursue a drug war strategy. When I asked President Perez Molina and President Lobo how they felt about winding up like Mexico, both sought to distance themselves from the Mexican experience. I had the opportunity to ask as part of a fact-finding mission on violence against women led by the Nobel Women's Initiative and JASS that showed a huge increase in violence against women as militarization under the drug war has escalated.

Perez Molina answered that his country was in a different position: "Drug trafficking in Guatemala is different than in Mexico. We don't see a war situation. The cartels have to maintain control of territory in Mexico but here it's traffic, there isn't occupation or control of territory. Here I don't see the army in a war against the narco..." In other interviews he has also been reticent about allowing the level of U.S. intervention that the Mexican government has permitted.

Lobo recognized the risks and failures of the model but dodged the question of alternatives. "I don't have the answer, people are dying, [drug-trafficking] pollutes us, and there is violence. There's an increase in drug trafficking. The problem is, what's the solution? Colombia put up a major fight and drugs keep flowing out. They have arms from the US and the money keeps flowing. In this we have to find a solution so this won't end up being a war without end."

Instead of sitting down with its neighbors to find a peaceful solution and truly assess whether the current strategy is working for anybody, the White House is sending a strong message to hold the line on the drug war. And Biden brings much more than his personal power of persuasion to the mostly closed-door conversations

It's disturbing to see that the Obama administration has taken such a hard line against opening up debate on alternatives to the drug war. From here in Mexico, we see the costs so painfully close that the expected endorsements from Biden and company, far from being support, are a stubborn denial of reality. We can't know what will happen in the private meetings, but statements before Biden's trip emphasize support for the Calderon drug war and the commitment to continue the present model of security cooperation until the last day of his administration.

One wonders what will be said at the separate meetings with the presidential candidates. If the stated purpose is to repeat the U.S. commitment to respecting the electoral process and results, why not simply announce that publicly to all? Will Biden pressure the candidates to do the U.S.' bidding on security policy, bringing to bear U.S. political and economic clout to assure continuance of the drug war? 

Lopez Obrador announced he will deliver a letter to Biden stating, "We do not want to continue to favor military cooperation in the relationship with the United States, but instead place cooperation for development at the center."

The U.S. has tremendous influence over Mexico and Central America, historically through aid and military presence, and even more now that free trade agreements have created even higher levels of economic dependence.

To use that influence to suppress debate on innovative and very possibly effective alternatives to the bloody drug war is bad politics and the opposite of the kind of "equal partnership and mutual respect" the Obama administration promised at the Trinidad and Tobago Summit in 2009. Part of the purpose of Biden's trip is to prepare for the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena in April. At that summit, the hemisphere's nations will be able to judge whether Obama's presidency changed relations as promised three years ago.

If Biden's trip focuses on locking in policies of drug war militarization and discouraging independent regional initiatives, the Obama administration will arrive in Cartagena having broken those promises and dashed hopes of a more just realignment of relations in the hemisphere.

Drug Policy: Biden Travels To Latin America Amid Drug Decriminalization Debate

Fox News: "Vice President Joe Biden heads to Latin America Sunday amid unprecedented pressure from political and business leaders to talk about something U.S. officials have no interest in debating: decriminalizing drugs. Presidents of Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia and Mexico, all grappling with the extremely violent fallout of a failing drug war, have said in recent weeks they'd like to open up the discussion of legalizing drugs.

..."It's a different moment when you have actual heads of state talking about the need for a thorough debate on this," said John Walsh, a drug policy expert at the Washington Office on Latin America .... "It's certainly different for sitting presidents to be uttering those words. You wouldn't have thought it possible just a few years ago."

... Retired Brazilian judge Maria Lucia Karam, in an email to The Associated Press, ... said that ... Latin American leaders (have) been worn down by the drug war's relentless toll. "The public comments we are seeing are a sign of deep frustration and anger that is now prevalent in Latin America due to the U.S. and U.N.'s seeming unwillingness to engage in a serious debate about implementing effective drug policies that respect human rights and truly protect health," she said." read more

Drug Policy Debate: Decriminalize drugs--an urgent debate

La Jornada editorial: "Yesterday, in front of members of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat), the head of the Mexican Foreign Ministry, Patricia Espinosa, said that while the government of Mexico does not agree with the decriminalization of drugs that are currently banned--because that measure does not suffice to end drug trafficking and organized crime--it is willing to participate and open itself to a debate regarding this matter.

As you may recall, in January last year, three former Latin American presidents, Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil, Colombian Cesar Gaviria and Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico, recognizing the failure of the police and military struggle against drugs, spoke out to promote drug "regularization." This position was supported by the writers Carlos Fuentes and Mario Vargas Llosa and, months later, Vicente Fox joined the proposal.

The most recent regional impetus to the discussion of decriminalization came from the presidents of Colombia and Guatemala, Juan Manuel Santos and Otto Perez Molina. The former said, at the end of 2011, that he would agree with a decision to that effect, provided that it was accepted by the rest of the world. Last week, his Guatemalan counterpart went further, arguing the benefits that would follow from eliminating the ban on the production and trafficking of currently illegal psychotropic drugs.

It is surprising that two political representatives of authoritarianism and militarism, such as Santos and Molina-Perez--the first, a former Defense Minister charged with criminal responsibility for the Colombian military attack on Sucumbios, Ecuador, and the second singled out for having participated in the genocide of indigenous people in Guatemala carried out by military regimes--now advocate a humanistic and avant-garde approach to meet the security challenge involved in drug trafficking and to delimit the problem posed by addiction, which is a public health issue that must be approached differently and with different instruments. Again paradoxically, it is two of the most pro-American rulers of the region that are openly challenging the anti-drug approach driven--or imposed--by Washington.

Similarly, one wonders why progressive, sovereign governments like Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Brazil--all affected by drug trafficking and the power of blackmail and interference that this criminal phenomenon gives the United States--have not taken the lead in this matter. The current Mexican authorities, meanwhile, have, so far, stubbornly and counterproductively insisted on the failed strategy derived from U.S. policy on drugs. This also is in harmony with submission to our neighboring country and with the morally conservative and authoritarian ruling party which has led this country into a bloody, very costly and tragic conflict, .

It is striking that now the Foreign Secretary expresses the government's disposition to participate in the discussion of an idea that has been rejected in advance by the Federal Government, whose head has repeatedly expressed his determination to end his term "with drums beating" and throwing "all his weight" into the war that he declared against organized crime, particularly against the drug cartels.

Perhaps, if the debate on the decriminalization of drugs had been begun before adopting the present course regarding public security, the country would have saved countless lives, widespread social suffering, grave processes of institutional breakdown and astronomical monetary resources. In whatever form, it is urgent and impossible to postpone the analysis of alternatives to the failure of a drug policy that is one only of the police, the military and the judiciary. In that sense anyone who takes this position--though it may be late and contradictory--is welcome." Spanish original

Drug Policy Debate: Legalizing drugs may be part of the solution to the drug problem: Mexico Deputy Attorney General

Milenio: "The Mexican Deputy Attorney General for International Affairs (PGR), Alejandro Ramos, said the legalization of drugs can be a part of the solution to combating drug trafficking, but it should be a measure undertaken internationally.

"I believe that policy in this matter must be comprehensive. We should not be closed to legalization; it can be a part of the solution. I do not think it's the total solution, and I also believe that no country alone can take one position or another without the consent of the other members of the international community." He spoke while participating in a seminar on organized crime held by the Euro-Latin-American Parliamentary Assembly, held in the Mexican Senate." Spanish original

Movement for Peace Caravan to the North: Javier Sicilia Talks about Mexican Violence and U.S. Responsibility

North American Congress on Latin America: "This is the third (and final) set of excerpts from a long conversation I had with Sicilia about three weeks ago. In the first installment I excerpted some of Sicilia’s comments on the questions of nonviolence and the process of dialogue. In a second installment, I excerpted comments on the question of the unraveling of Mexico’s social fabric.

In this installment, I present more excerpts from that same conversation, this time focused on the rationale for the MPJD’s upcoming caravan through the United States. This Fall, Sicilia will bring a caravan to the United States, where it will travel from California to New England attempting to raise awareness of the wave of violence Mexico is living through and, in particular, the relationship between that violence and U.S. policies and institutions." read more

Drug war debate: A new voice--businessmen who are feeling the pinch

CSMonitor.com: "Legalizing drugs in an effort to combat organized crime, narcotrafficking and gang violence in Latin America has gained traction in recent months. Presidents from Guatemala and Colombia have raised the possibility of legalization in their countries and the region, with politicians from Costa Rica, Mexico and El Salvador joining the debate.

Though decriminalization doesn’t guarantee an end to violent organized crime in the Americas, it could free up government resources and potentially divert profits away from traffickers, supporters say. And it’s not only Latin American governments that are seriously contemplating the idea: regional business leaders are starting to speak out in favor of the controversial policy change as well." read more