Mexico decriminalizes small-scale drug possession

Saturday 22nd August, 04:49 AM JST

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11 Comments

PepinGalarga at 07:46 AM JST - 22nd August

First...

ok, this is gonna be a huge news event, especially influential on public policy north of the border. The fact that they have decriminalized hard drugs is extremely radical. I'm sure this will help their tourism industry massively.

Asian countries, which have some of the harshest penalties, also need to evaluate the effectiveness of this program, and focus on getting the big fish (who usually have been protected by the police anyway)...
NeilWarnock at 08:15 AM JST - 22nd August

Great i9dea Mexico. Spend your resources on catching the big fish not the users, who should be treated as victims and comassionately.
adaydream at 01:51 PM JST - 22nd August

Bravo...bravo to this new law.

I say the US needs to follow suit. < :-)
cow76 at 03:04 PM JST - 22nd August

Excellent news. The only way to fight drugs is to make them legal and treat them as a health problem, not a crime.
Madverts at 04:01 PM JST - 22nd August

"The only way to fight drugs is to make them legal and treat them as a health problem, not a crime."

Agreed.

And TAX 'em.
SuperLib at 05:26 PM JST - 22nd August

Sounds good, but cocaine and heroin? Alowing those drugs might create more problems than it solves....
Madverts at 11:08 PM JST - 22nd August

"Alowing those drugs might create more problems than it solves...."

Are you basing your opinion on the stength of these drugs - particularly the scag - or is the potential addiction problems....or both?

My own personal opinion is that the only reason many people - especially youngsters - want to do hard drugs is simply because it's ilegal, therefore "cool" to try them.

Cocaïne turns you into an assh0le and heroin a zombie, with H's powerful and rapid addiction side well known to all westerners who dabble with it prior to the first fix. These people are going to toot anyway IMO so why not make it leagal at least to tax it and clean up the end product?
adaydream at 04:16 AM JST - 23rd August

I did all those drogs in my youth before they had drug tests for them all. Then I decided that my drug of choice was pot. So I've been a pothead for 40 years.

We were just talking about Woodstock and drugs this morning at camp. I could do all those drugs now, but in my youth....

It's not just because they are illegal that people do them. It's because they feel good. Those people that lose control and get hooked on coke or herion or meth, I'm sorry for them. It's about maintaining. < :-)
HonestDictator at 06:28 AM JST - 23rd August

Addiction is the problem no matter if the drug is legal or illegal. Alchohol, tobacco, mj, crack, meth etc. All the ones that binge all have one thing in common, they can't/won't control themselves because they don't know when to stop or when enough is enough. The only issue is how the side effects affect those around them. Drunk drivers, second hand smoke, or the results of hard drugs where people lose their sense of reality and can become extremely dangerous to those around them.
SuperLib at 01:59 PM JST - 23rd August

Are you basing your opinion on the stength of these drugs - particularly the scag - or is the potential addiction problems....or both?

I think they're too addictive. Just having the right to possess it will probably lead to an increase in addicts because it will probably end up exposing it to more people. Even with something as harmless as pot you usually don't see people just light up a joint at a party with a lot of people they don't know or don't trust. You never know if someone there might be a cop, or just the slight stigma of being illegal adds discretion, hence less exposure.

Now someone can just whip out a mirror and start doing lines at the dinner table. If people know they're allowed to possess it, they'd probably be more willing to give it a try. With drugs like heroin and cocaine it only takes one try to get hooked for life...
Lancy at 08:28 PM JST - 28th August

This subject is being discussed everywhere. Here's another site, where you can vote on the decriminalizing drug law. You have to register to to casy yout vote or answer.

http://www.dotblu.com/question/8.27.2009doyouthinkdecriminalizingdrugpossessionwouldendtheviolenceinMexico