cannabisnews.com: Mexico, Calif. Are Laboratories for New Approach
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Mexico, Calif. Are Laboratories for New Approach
Posted by CN Staff on August 26, 2009 at 16:32:08 PT
Editorial
Source: Arizona Republic
World -- Is it capitulation when Mexico, which faces an existential threat from drug cartels, decides to decriminalize drugs? Is it cynicism when California, which faces a budget crisis, considers legalizing and taxing marijuana?Quips are easy. But the problems are complex, and we are about to get a look at the consequences, for good or bad, of what happens when governments relax their drug laws. It is a moment for studied observation.
Mexico's new law decriminalizes small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, heroin, LSD and methamphetamine. Those caught will be told to seek treatment the first two times; treatment is mandatory the third time.Under previous laws, possession could lead to long jail terms. Treating drug abuse as a social and public-health problem rather than a law-enforcement issue is expected to free up prison space and resources to go after criminal drug cartels, according to Mexican officials.It may seem contradictory to excuse the user while targeting suppliers. But in Mexico, which has long supplied the U.S. market for illicit drugs, domestic consumption is a relatively new phenomenon. According to government statistics, the number of addicts in Mexico has risen by more than 50 percent in six years.Will Mexico's new policy result in more addicts seeking treatment, or will it create an atmosphere in which more people become addicts? Will Mexico provide the necessary treatment for the 300,000 to 465,000 addicts estimated to be in the country? Will this change in policy legitimize the drug cartels? Or help Mexico's aggressive campaign against these criminal syndicates, which are responsible for more than 11,000 deaths since 2006?Arizona's shared border with Mexico also raises concerns about the impact on U.S. visitors to Mexico, particularly spring-break revelers.Arizona's western border offers the chance to observe another experiment in moving away from a law-and-order model for dealing with drug use.In 1996, California voters approved medical marijuana. The needed prescription is a small fig leaf that covers a wide variety of "ailments."California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, a Democrat, proposes full legalization of marijuana for adult use, with regulation and taxation. A tax of $50 per ounce is estimated to raise $1.3 billion annually. According to one poll, 56 percent of California voters support such a plan.There also are three initiative efforts in California to put marijuana-legalization measures before voters in November 2010.Again, there are more questions than answers.Both California's move toward legalization and Mexico's experiment with decriminalization provide real-life laboratories for observing the effects of new approaches to drug use. We'll be watching. Newshawk: HopeSource: Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ)Published: August 26, 2009Copyright: 2009 The Arizona RepublicContact: http://drugsense.org/url/3pj8PiYFURL: http://drugsense.org/url/oBuo2FDAWebsite: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/ Related Article:Mexico's New Drug Law May Set an Examplehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread24989.shtml
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Comment #12 posted by Hope on August 28, 2009 at 12:12:23 PT
Grits for Breakfast today... 
http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/"Just keep grinnin' - We're winnnin'!" Prosecutors debate the drug war.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #11 posted by Hope on August 28, 2009 at 12:08:14 PT
I like this headline in the NYT.
Latin America Weighs Less Punitive Path to Curb Drug UseI haven't read the article yet. But the headline sounds amazingly sensible.http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n818/a01.html?397
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Comment #10 posted by ekim on August 28, 2009 at 09:35:49 PT
good going snowedunder 
http://cannabisnews.com/news/24/thread24881.shtmlIf California, which grows cotton -- one of the most water and pesticide intensive crops in the world, could legally replace cotton with hemp, it could clean up the environment while supplying the domestic market with a crop that has thousands of applications. In 2005, cotton was worth $630 million to the state (although the industry is shrinking due to globalization). According to "Illegally Green: Environmental Costs of Hemp Prohibition," a report written by analyst Skaidra Smith-Heisters and issued by the Reason Foundation, hemp produces more fiber and uses half the irrigation water and nitrogen fertilizer that cotton does.comment from Ddc 
http://www.drugwarrant.com/2009/08/tonight-show-explains-mexican-decrim-law/#comments
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on August 27, 2009 at 05:59:20 PT
SnowedUnder
You're welcome.
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Comment #8 posted by SnowedUnder on August 27, 2009 at 05:03:28 PT:
ekim, Gotta love ...
Cannabis Hemp for all things derived from it.
My better half has been getting into it for over a year now. She keeps finding new attributes to Hemp, and I just say "I told ya". That's just hemp... now how about Sativa or Indica, the other miracle cousins to Hemp.
It's also nice to see that Mexico has decriminalized for
personnal use. Just one thing about the article above.
All a person needs to do is a little research, because we already know how other countries do with liberalized Cannabis laws.
Thanks FOM and you folks have a great day.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #7 posted by Hope on August 26, 2009 at 22:01:31 PT
RevRayGreen 
That's right, Brother Ray. As a matter of fact... that's exactly right.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #6 posted by RevRayGreen on August 26, 2009 at 21:49:42 PT
Well Arnold wanted to know about other "countrees&
and how they are deeeeling'with marihuana...Feel free to add the U.S. to the list anytime Big 'O'.HollandPortugal,Mexico,Argentina...
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by Hope on August 26, 2009 at 20:09:37 PT
Oh my!
It's amazing how they could have got so many little things so right. Things I'd even forgotten.Talk about taking a person back. I was yanked back, big time.Pretty danged amazing.They did the music beautifully, too. Very beautifully.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by John Tyler on August 26, 2009 at 20:07:47 PT
Across the Universe
Isn't it great?
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by FoM on August 26, 2009 at 19:42:15 PT
Hope
Enjoy!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by Hope on August 26, 2009 at 19:35:38 PT
  OT
Wow.I'm watching Across the Universe for the first time.Amazing.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by ekim on August 26, 2009 at 18:06:06 PT
make fab foods and make molaa to boot
http://www.examiner.com/x-20151-Manchester-Gluten-Free-Examiner~y2009m8d25-Hemp--A-replacement-for-common-food-allergensHemp: A replacement for common food allergens?http://michiganmedicalmarijuana.org/node/7897
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