Summary: Mexico may be the next country to decriminalize marijuana for personal use as many countries have changed their policies against drug users.
With many of the individual States in the United States and other countries legalizing marijuana, it wasn’t long before Mexico joined in the movement. The Mexican Supreme Court has opened the discussion into marijuana legalization.
There is no mystery that Mexico struggles with drug problems. Mexico has very strict substance abuse laws that try to control their problems. A vote by the criminal chamber does not strike down the current drug laws, but paves the way for future legal actions that could. The court ruled that people have the right to grow and distribute marijuana for their personal use.
The war on drugs has been going on in Mexico for years with little to show. The flow of drugs cannot be stopped, nor can the political corruption fueling the drug flow. Many have questioned whether imprisoning drug users in a country with conservative drug laws is effective.
Other Latin American countries have already enacted marijuana legalization laws of their own. Uruguay passed their law in 2013, although the industry has been slow to unfold. Chile collected their first harvest for medical marijuana this year. Brazil is in the midst of debating the issue, while Bolivia allows the plant used to make cocaine, coca, to be used traditionally.
These same Latin American countries explain their changes in policy because of the fact that America is slowly decriminalizing marijuana. They don’t think it is fair to imprison their poor farmers when it is legal in other places.
Some Mexicans believe this move to legalize marijuana won’t help with the violence or weaken gangs. Even with the growing availability of marijuana in the U.S. through U.S. growers, Mexico still accounts for a large part of the American supply. As the U.S. legalizes marijuana and the demand dries up for Mexican marijuana, it is likely that the cartels will push other drugs more.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/05/world/americas/mexico-supreme-court-marijuana-ruling.html?_r=0
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