Mexico is likely to legalize!
Legislation submitted to Congress last week by the party of leftist President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador would regulate cannabis, allowing it to be grown, sold and consumed for recreational use.
Proponents of legalization say it would reduce bloodshed in Mexico by weakening drug cartels and freeing up police officers and prosecutors to focus on more serious crimes. But the proposal has critics, including the Catholic Church, which holds significant sway in Mexican politics. A poll in Mexico last year showed a majority of respondents opposed legalizing marijuana.
Living in the state of New Mexico, I think this is a huge step in the right direction. There was a short period in the late 90s and early 2000s when crime declined, but, in the last decade there’s been a huge increase in cartel violence. I realize that cartels are increasingly involved in hard drugs, but, hopefully slowing down cartels by making weed legal will help everybody.
It’s gotten so bad here that beheadings and murders are spilling over into the nicer neighborhoods. Last month, in my neighborhood which is regarded as an expensive and “upscale” area near the University of New Mexico campus, a 17 year old high school kid was gunned down in his front yard. He was murdered for no apparent reason a mere 200 feet from my house.
The cops have no leads, and it was hardly even publicized because the newspapers have been threatened by the cartels. It’s so sad to hear about this and many other violent crimes around NM going unsolved because even the police in a city of 800,000 are scared to poke the cartel bear.
https://www.npr.org/2018/11/14/667699301/mexico-hopes-to-legalize-marijuana