In Mexico, drug legalization is a mixed bag

Just because a drug is legalized doesn't mean everyone will become addicted to it or that an addiction problem will arise. When alcohol prohibition was lifted people did binge, but for no more than a year. Alcohol is now regulated, taxed, and legal with fewer addicts than illegal drugs. If drugs are legal we can regulate and tax them, this means we can support people with addiction problems in the open instead of in rehabilitation centers and we won't be wasting money on the drug war. In fact if drugs were taxed the government could use that money for drug addiction help and research on drugs. Lastly, whether a drug is illegal or legal, depending on the person, people will get addicted.

RodneyE; You are wrong! As you said, you have never had any Cocaine or LSD, I have. Done recreationally, not on a regular basis, neither is completely addictive! I have not had either in several years but I have had my share. I never did it regularly, just occasionally at parties or with friends that had some. I knew how dangerous it Could be if you do it regularly so I never let myself do that. Not everyone that does drugs is smart, and stupid people will get addicted, but you can’t account for stupid people. Yes, everyone is different and some people get addicted to things more easily, but people are gonna do whatever they want no matter what the laws.
Most people would agree that drug Violence is the biggest problem. Legalization is the only way to keep the violence out of drug use. In almost all cases the violence comes from the MONEY involved, not the drugs. The MONEY is why the Cartels are so violent, not the use of the drugs they sell, which most of the big cartel people don’t use. Take the Money profits out of the hands of the street gangs and cartels and put the money into the hands of the government organizations that would regulate them and give people that do get addicted a place to go to get help. That is the only sane solution. It is Insane to let the Cartels continue to make Billions from the black market till they get powerful enough to challenge the government and take over the country because that is where prohibition is leading to. As far as ‘Crack’ goes, I have never done crack because I am not stupid. Everyone knows that it is far more addictive than regular cocaine, but as I said you can’t account for stupid people and in my opinion anyone that does Crack is just plain STUPID. I would rather have the money from the use of Crack in the hands of the government rather than the street gangs and cartels because the street gangs and cartels have no interest in creating programs to help people that become addicted to get treatment.
On another point: people commit crimes to get the money to buy their drugs. Yes I agree, but under government control the drugs will be cheaper thus there will be less crime and because the police will not be spending their time catching recreational drug users they will have more time to investigate and catch the hard-core drug criminals that are committing crimes to get the money for their drugs. There will also be less criminal cases clogging our courts and more space in prisons to house them so that they will not be let go by prosecutors that have too many cases on their docket due to prosecution of recreational users or let out early just because there is not enough prison space.
Legalization does not solve All problems but it does solve the most important problems which are the Street Gang and Cartel profits and the Violence involved with the black market dealing of All types of drugs.
Now don’t say that you want to keep drug prohibition in order to keep drugs out of the hands of kids. It has been proven that prohibition actually makes it easier for kids to get drugs because the street dealers don't care how old their customers are.
Legalization of drugs is the only way to defeat the street gangs and cartels and it will also free up Billions of dollars in government resources that are being wasted in the “War On Drugs”.
It seems that the Mexican politicians are smarter that the American politicians.

I really don't see anything wrong with the use of marijuana. The debate of marijuana being a gateway drug can be debatted until the end of days. What people do need to realize is cocoa or Cocaine is very addictive. I have never taken it myself, but for those that have they know how hard it is to kick the habit. It often resorts in many health issues as well as a life of addictive behaviors that are very hard to kick.
The use of this drug is a great tourist attraction for the people. If I like cocaine and wanted to go on a weekend getaway I would probably think of going to Europe, but now I know I can just roll on down to Mexico and have a great time. Minus the drug cartel then violence and fear for ones life. No i am nothing going to do that, I am just saying. The allowance of LSD is also very extreme in my oppion. LSD is a strong halucigene.(NOT SURE IF SPELLED THAT RIGHT). LSD is very dangerous as well and can also leed to a number of health problems.

Whoah, Pot is illegal? SInce when? Wow, I had no idea!

JRT
www.be-invisible.es.tc

LSD is non addictive and should not be used in the same category ever as crystal meth or cocaine.

I do not want America to follow their lead. I do not want heroin and many of the read addictive drugs legal. I also do not think those who do find themselves addicted should be criminals. I would like to see drugs taken seriously, not using madness, but science and facts.

Using madness and spin by our own government leads to confusion, between 'real facts' and 'spun facts'. Ones government should not be the 'spinners', they should be the 'real' facts specialists. If they don't know the truth, how can we expect American youth to be able to know 'real' truth. Truth matters. Cannabis should not be classified equal to heroin.

More Americans would participate in working to end the drug problem in America, if a large part of it was not based on lies!

What a flawed article. The writer first admits that 4 joints would have no societal impact, and that prosecution for possession is non existent. The article admits the whole point of legalization of small amounts of all drugs is to stop police bribery.

Then, after completely ignoring what the author had just wrote, he tries to convince us that legalization would lead to higher usage of things like LSD or Heroine?

What? Excuse me? You just told me that prosecution is non existent. So what makes you believe people would suddenly decide to drop LSD now, as opposed to before. Prosecution has always been nonexistent. There is no new motivation to go get high. The chances of being busted are the same as before.

Next, the article mentions Portugal. Well? How about Portugal? How about that "potential surge of drug addiction"? How about some raw numbers on that? If the author would have put just the littlest bit of research he would have found that since decriminalization, drug usage across the board in Portugal is down.

So what should we fear more? Drug legalization or the people handing out the half-truths and anecdotes about it?

Bullshit article is Bullshit.

yeah that article is a bunch of bullshit. it's the same deal w/ decriminalization in amsterdam and they're fine. alcohol is worse for you than any drug the author names, sans meth. alcohol is the only drug that permeates EVERY cell in the body. it's also more addictive than heroin but is everyone in the country stumbling around drunk right now? no. the idea that decriminalizing hard drugs would significantly increase the number of addicts is based on fear and ignorance, not facts. the number of lives ending the prohibition would save far outweighs the number of lives we loose every year by keeping it.

You state that; “Little good can come of legalizing such powerful and addictive drugs. Drug-related violence may well increase, even if cartel violence decreases, as the desperation of addiction grows in Mexico’s cities and towns.”
I strongly disagree!
If someone wants to do Cocaine or any other drug they will do it no matter what the law is. Repealing drug prohibition will not create more drug addicts. Look at history. When Alcohol prohibition was repealed there was a ‘Small and Temporary’ increase in use just due to curiosity. After the short term curiosity ended the numbers fell back to the same numbers as during prohibition. This was in an era which, compared to today’s standards, had very little available information about the harmful effects of the substances. Today people are Much more educated about the effects of the drugs and there is mountains of information for people to learn so they can decide for themselves what risks they want to take. Give the people credit, they are not all idiots that don’t know what the risks are, they do not need to be protected from themselves. As far as the ‘Violence’ is concerned; again look at history. After alcohol prohibition, crime statistics Fell DRAMATICALLY!
It’s about the MONEY!

Prohibition of any drug will always lead to violent crime as profits become immense.
decriminalization of all drugs and legalization of marijuana is the only logical way to go.
Prisons are overcrowded with non violent drug users who should have been sent to rehab, a far cheaper alternitive than paying for years in prison. Take the profit away from gangs and Mexican drug lords, make hard drugs available through clinics where to get the drug you have to listen to one hour of dangers, impact etc...
With fewer people in prison more dollars can be spent on rehabilitation and all the DEA agents can be reassigned to border patrol and illegal human trafficing.
Tax pot, it will still be cheaper than today. Thousands of small farms will pop up with people looking to make a living, supply and demand will take over and we'll be awash in pot. One of Abe Linclons favorite things to do, play his harmonica and smoke some sweet hemp.

LSD is not addictive. Lets stop labeling every drug as if its exactly the same and automatically evil.

cannabis, lsd are cool with me, but not the other ones because they are physically addictive

I do not believe for one second that drug prohibition has curbed drug addiction at all. It just creates a market that operates outside the law for better profits.

I think it is a good plan. This will help control the trade it will also give the cops a trail to follow. Then they get to the source. Then they nip it in the bud thats what ya gotta do Andy nip it in the bud just nip it . AHA HA HA HA HA HA ..............thats not funny is it?

this is from august...

old news is old.

I 2nd that , and add alcohol to the mix.

wouldn't use 'mixed bag' in discussing drug legalization.

tobacco kills half a milliion a year. it they were worried about health they should make cigs illegal.......