Marijuana Laws: Growing Outcry in Latin America Over Colorado, Washington Votes
The votes in Colorado and Washington to legalize recreational marijuana continue to make waves south of the border.
Three Central American countries are joining Mexico in calling for the Organization of American States to study the effect of the pot votes – considering it could impact their efforts to fight drugs.
Mexico, Belize, Honduras and Costa Rica say the United Nations’ General Assembly should hold a special session on the prohibition of drugs by 2015 at the latest.
“It has become necessary to analyze in depth the implications for public policy and health in our nations emerging from the state and local moves to allow the legal production, consumption and distribution of marijuana in some countries of our continent,” Mexican President Felipe Calderón said after a meeting with Honduran President Porfirio Lobo, Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla and Prime Minister Dean Barrow of Belize.
It has become necessary to analyze in depth the implications for public policy and health in our nations emerging from the state and local moves to allow the legal production, consumption and distribution of marijuana in some countries of our continent – Mexican President Felipe Calderon.
Marijuana legalization by U.S. state governments is “a paradigm change on the part of those entities in respect to the current international system,” Calderón said.
The most influential adviser to Mexico’s next president, who takes office Dec. 1, questioned last week how the country will enforce a ban on growing and smuggling a drug now legal under some state laws. Mexico has seen tens of thousands of people killed over the last six years as part of a militarized government attempt to destroy the country’s drug cartels.
President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto has promised to shift the government’s focus to preventing violence against ordinary citizens, although he says he intends to keep battling cartels and is opposed to drug legalization. Guatemala’s president has advocated the international legalization of drugs.
Mexico is one of the primary suppliers of marijuana to the U.S., while Honduras and Belize are important stops on the northward passage of cocaine from South America. Costa Rica is seeing increasing use of its territory by drug traffickers.
Luis Videgaray, head of Peña Nieto’s transition team, told Radio Formula on Wednesday that the votes in the two states complicate his country’s commitment to quashing the growing and smuggling of marijuana.
“Obviously we can’t handle a product that is illegal in Mexico, trying to stop its transfer to the United States, when in the United States, at least in part of the United States, it now has a different status,” Videgaray said.
Videgaray stopped short of threatening to curtail Mexican enforcement of marijuana laws, but his comments appeared likely to increase pressure on the Obama administration to strictly enforce U.S. federal law, which still forbids recreational pot use.
It’s Time for Sensible Marijuana Laws
The Legalization and use of Marijuana has been a highly debated issue in the United States for a long time. It was first made illegal in 1937 after the alcohol prohibition debacle in the 1920s. The people who made Marijuana illegal were motivated by racist fears and greed rather than an actual desire to help and protect the public. It took a long and constant use of propaganda and disinformation to turn the public against a relatively harmless drug.
There was no substantial research done into Marijuana’s actual nature or many of its health benefits. Unfortunately, all these events led to marijuana prohibition without any actual educated debate on its merits and usage.
Subsequently, the US tax payers have lost an enormous amount of money, drug related crimes have increased exponentially, and medicinal and environmental use of Cannabis has been discouraged.
By making Marijuana illegal, Government loses its ability to control and regulate its production and use.
In addition, it has to be grown, transported and sold through illegal means which creates powerful criminal groups like the Mexican drug cartels whose main source of income is illegal marijuana sales. If Marijuana were made legal these criminal organizations would lose a huge portion of their profits.
Three Central American countries are joining Mexico in calling for the Organization of American States to study the effect of the pot votes – considering it could impact their efforts to fight drugs.
Mexico, Belize, Honduras and Costa Rica say the United Nations’ General Assembly should hold a special session on the prohibition of drugs by 2015 at the latest.
“It has become necessary to analyze in depth the implications for public policy and health in our nations emerging from the state and local moves to allow the legal production, consumption and distribution of marijuana in some countries of our continent,” Mexican President Felipe Calderón said after a meeting with Honduran President Porfirio Lobo, Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla and Prime Minister Dean Barrow of Belize.
It has become necessary to analyze in depth the implications for public policy and health in our nations emerging from the state and local moves to allow the legal production, consumption and distribution of marijuana in some countries of our continent – Mexican President Felipe Calderon.
Marijuana legalization by U.S. state governments is “a paradigm change on the part of those entities in respect to the current international system,” Calderón said.
The most influential adviser to Mexico’s next president, who takes office Dec. 1, questioned last week how the country will enforce a ban on growing and smuggling a drug now legal under some state laws. Mexico has seen tens of thousands of people killed over the last six years as part of a militarized government attempt to destroy the country’s drug cartels.
President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto has promised to shift the government’s focus to preventing violence against ordinary citizens, although he says he intends to keep battling cartels and is opposed to drug legalization. Guatemala’s president has advocated the international legalization of drugs.
Mexico is one of the primary suppliers of marijuana to the U.S., while Honduras and Belize are important stops on the northward passage of cocaine from South America. Costa Rica is seeing increasing use of its territory by drug traffickers.
Luis Videgaray, head of Peña Nieto’s transition team, told Radio Formula on Wednesday that the votes in the two states complicate his country’s commitment to quashing the growing and smuggling of marijuana.
“Obviously we can’t handle a product that is illegal in Mexico, trying to stop its transfer to the United States, when in the United States, at least in part of the United States, it now has a different status,” Videgaray said.
Videgaray stopped short of threatening to curtail Mexican enforcement of marijuana laws, but his comments appeared likely to increase pressure on the Obama administration to strictly enforce U.S. federal law, which still forbids recreational pot use.
It’s Time for Sensible Marijuana Laws
The Legalization and use of Marijuana has been a highly debated issue in the United States for a long time. It was first made illegal in 1937 after the alcohol prohibition debacle in the 1920s. The people who made Marijuana illegal were motivated by racist fears and greed rather than an actual desire to help and protect the public. It took a long and constant use of propaganda and disinformation to turn the public against a relatively harmless drug.
There was no substantial research done into Marijuana’s actual nature or many of its health benefits. Unfortunately, all these events led to marijuana prohibition without any actual educated debate on its merits and usage.
Subsequently, the US tax payers have lost an enormous amount of money, drug related crimes have increased exponentially, and medicinal and environmental use of Cannabis has been discouraged.
By making Marijuana illegal, Government loses its ability to control and regulate its production and use.
In addition, it has to be grown, transported and sold through illegal means which creates powerful criminal groups like the Mexican drug cartels whose main source of income is illegal marijuana sales. If Marijuana were made legal these criminal organizations would lose a huge portion of their profits.
Studio33
http://www.amazon.com/shops/studio33
Virgin Atlantic Airways
http://tinyurl.com/pjbm6r6
Luxury French Lingerie
http://tinyurl.com/o7qcz7m
From chocolate eggs to chocolate coins, give your sweet tooth a treat with our delicious products.
http://tinyurl.com/nragc9j
Astore
http://astore.amazon.com/nevinghomebas-20
No comments:
Post a Comment