Will California's Prop 19 END the Mexican War on Drugs?

~Zen~ · Sep 12, 2010

Probably not, but this ambitious thinker from Mexico City believes it will certainly change the game along the California border.

On Nov. 2, Californians will vote on Proposition 19, deciding whether to legalize the production, sale and consumption of marijuana. If the initiative passes, it won't just be momentous for California; it may, at long last, offer Mexico the promise of an exit from our costly war on drugs.

The costs of that war have long since reached intolerable levels: more than 28,000 of our fellow citizens dead since late 2006; expenditures well above $10 billion; terrible damage to Mexico's image abroad; human rights violations by government security forces; and ever more crime. In a recent poll by the Mexico City daily Reforma, 67 percent of Mexicans said these costs are unacceptable, while 59 percent said the drug cartels are winning the war.

We have believed for some time that Mexico should legalize marijuana and perhaps other drugs. But until now, most discussion of this possibility has foundered because our country's drug problem and the U.S. drug problem are so inextricably linked: What our country produces, Americans consume. As a result, the debate over legalization has inevitably gotten hung up over whether Mexico should wait until the United States is willing and able to do the same.

Proposition 19 changes this calculation. For Mexico, California is almost the whole enchilada: Our overall trade with the largest state of the union is huge, an immense number of Californians are of Mexican origin, and an enormous proportion of American visitors to Mexico come from California. Passage of Prop 19 would therefore flip the terms of the debate about drug policy: If California legalizes marijuana, will it be viable for our country to continue hunting down drug lords in Tijuana? Will Wild West-style shootouts to stop Mexican cannabis from crossing the border make any sense when, just over that border, the local 7-Eleven sells pot?
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Read more here.

deleted · Sep 12, 2010

One my friends was going to mexico, had a small bullet in his car.. They tore his car apart looking for guns, and more bullets.. "you try and bring weapons in our country senor?" said it was the scariest shit..
They dont want our guns and we dont want their drugs..
yeah, that all makes sense..

~Zen~ · Sep 13, 2010

Guns and drugs are a very poor mix. Can't say that guns go well with anything, except death.

hebrewnational00 · Sep 13, 2010

You can turn your back on a man but never turn your back on a drug. Especially when the people on them are waiving a razor sharp blade in your face lol (Hunter S Thompson.... Close enough to the actual quote)

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Will California's Prop 19 END the Mexican War on Drugs?

~Zen~ California Tripper Administrator

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~Zen~ California Tripper Administrator

hebrewnational00 Senior Member

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Will California's Prop 19 END the Mexican War on Drugs?

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