Mexico Decriminalizes Some Recreational Drug Possession
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Drugs, Law, Legislation, Mexico
So Canada has basically decriminalized marijuana possession and Mexico has added cocaine, meth, heroin and LSD to the mix.
Wonder what’s going to happen in the US in the next decade…especially given the current reality in California where shops are selling pot out in the open?
In an effort to garner control in the battle against drug traffickers, Mexico has passed a new law that decriminalizes small amounts of drugs by setting maximum “personal use” amounts on marijuana, cocaine, heroin, LSD, and methamphetamine. A person will no longer be arrested if found with 5 grams of marijuana (or 4 joints), a half-gram for cocaine (or 4 lines), 50 milligrams of heroin, 40 milligrams of methamphetamine, or 0.015 milligrams of LSD.
But the Mexican government is quick to point out that the difference between decriminalization and…
“This is not legalization,” assured Bernardo Espino del Castillo of the attorney general’s office. “This is regulating the issue and giving citizens greater legal certainty.” Under the new law, anyone caught with drug quantities below the limit will be encouraged to seek treatment, until the third time a person is caught when treatment becomes mandatory.
You know, I think that’s actually a pretty good policy, with the exception of marijuana being a drug that needs mandatory treatment. I mean, if somebody is walking around drunk a few times, will cops stop them? Of course not. Marijuana is far less harmful than alcohol, but the stigma exists and so it goes.
Also, how many LSD addicts are out there? 5? I mean…come on. Maybe that provision was made for the rich kids in Mexico City and the Turistas in Cancun. Hrmmm…
In any event, I think this a good, common sense step forward to make sure that non-violent drug offenders aren’t rammed-rodded through the system and have to serve unnecessary jail time.
…and the libertarians and liberals did cheer…
This entry was posted on Friday, August 21st, 2009 and is filed under Drugs, Law, Legislation, Mexico. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
August 21st, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Apropos of nothing in particular, does anyone know the number for AeroMexico?
August 22nd, 2009 at 12:07 am
I don’t know their number, but I do know the number of Southwest so you can make your way down to Kansas City. :-)
August 22nd, 2009 at 8:17 am
Decriminalization is a bad policy, especially for Mexico. It means the drug lords and gangs are still running the show, and now have even more incentive to wage war against eachother and target public officials for bribes and extortion.
Just legalize the damn stuff already and put the criminals out of business.
August 22nd, 2009 at 9:07 am
That would only put the criminals out of business if the US did it, too.
If they legalized the criminals would create legal front organizations to create the drugs, use their illegal smuggling rings to move the drugs north, and bribe/murder local police into ignoring them.
August 22nd, 2009 at 9:54 pm
Cue pundit saying we shouldn’t want to follow a Mexican policy in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1……
August 24th, 2009 at 1:17 am
The liberalization of drug policy should make a nifty issue for law and order conservatives to bludgeon democrats with in selected districts. As we know, it’s about the children.