O’Grady: The Real Victims of Mexico’s Drug War – WSJ.com

O’Grady: The Real Victims of Mexico’s Drug War – WSJ.com

Nov 11, 2012 | | 0 |

With voters in Colorado and Washington state approving the legalization of marijuana use on Tuesday, there is hope that the U.S. may be at the beginning of the end of the long, tortuous and fruitless federal war on drugs.If the U.S. Constitution means anything, the federal government was never granted the power to regulate intrastate drug use. That prerogative belongs to the states, though Barack Obama’s Justice Department has already announced that it plans to defend the Beltway’s nanny-state view that the feds have to protect individuals across the country from themselves.Meanwhile, south of the border, countries seem to...

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Marijuana legalization: They answer to ending the drug war in Mexico? | Alaska Dispatch

Marijuana legalization: They answer to ending the drug war in Mexico? | Alaska Dispatch

Nov 11, 2012 | | 0 |

Might Americans’ growing ability to get stoned without fear of arrest end Mexico’s bloody gangster wars?The legalization of recreational marijuana approved by voters Tuesday in Washington and Colorado could sap power from vicious smuggling gangs, and undermine the Mexican government’s rationale for pressing on with the drug war, some analysts say.The impact of the vote hinges on whether the state initiatives survive expected court challenges and continued enforcement of US federal drug laws.But if they do — and legalization catches a wave across America — Mexico’s narco-traffickers could lose up to 30 percent of the estimated $6.5 billion they...

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US drug legalisations reverberate in Mexico – Features – Al Jazeera English

Nov 11, 2012 | | 0 |

The legalisation of small amounts of marijuana for recreational use, which will allow the drug to be taxed and regulated, in two US states will prompt debate on anti-drug policies in Mexico as well, and on the coordination of strategies between the two countries, experts say.“The least bad option is legalisation,”Jorge Chabat, at the Centre for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE), said. “It will have an impact on the way prohibition is designed, because there will be a cascade effect, and we’ll see changes very soon.”On election day in the US Tuesday, Colorado and Washington became the first states to approve referendums for the legalisation of marijuana – up to one ounce for personal use for adults 21 and over.via US drug legalisations reverberate in Mexico – Features – Al Jazeera...

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What Colorado and Washington’s Vote to Legalize Marijuana means for Latin America | LatIntelligence

Nov 9, 2012 | | 0 |

  As Americans went to the polls to elect their president yesterday, voters in Colorado and Washington chose to legalize marijuana (by referendum). Not only does this create conflicting state and federal laws, but it also directly challenges the United States’ war on drugs. These initiatives, Colorado’s Amendment 64 and Washington’s Initiative 502, directly conflict with the federal Controlled Substances Act, which classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug (along with heroin and LSD)—deemed to have “a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use.” In 2010 Attorney General Eric Holder announced he would “vigorously enforce” federal laws if marijuana was legalized in California (it wasn’t). Although no official statement on Washington and Colorado has been released, the White House’s website maintains that “the Obama Administration has consistently reiterated its firm opposition to any form of drug legalization.”What Colorado and Washington’s Vote to Legalize Marijuana means for Latin America |...

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Potential impact on Mexico of U.S. marijuana initiatives | Baker Institute Blog | a Chron.com blog

Nov 9, 2012 | , | 0 |

The initiatives became major news in Mexico, which views their bloody struggle with Mexican cartels as intrinsically linked to the U.S. demand for drugs.  Mexico’s Institute for Competivenessor (IMCO) released a report arguing that if all three initiatives passed, they would significantly undercut the Mexican cartel marijuana market in the U.S. and reduce cartel profits by approximately 30 percent The report’s authors further argued that the passage of the initiatives would be most damaging to the Sinaloa cartel, which has a long-established reputation for focusing on drug trafficking over other activities like kidnapping and extortion.  Mexican president-elect Enrique Pena Nieto’s top adviser, Luis Videgaray, argued that the passage of these initiatives changes the “rules of the game” in relation to the United States on drug enforcement.via Potential impact on Mexico of U.S. marijuana initiatives | Baker Institute Blog | a Chron.com...

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