Olivares Alonso: Decriminalizing Marijuana Will Improve Human Rights in Mexico Emir Olivares Alonso - La Jornada
go to original June 12, 2013

A new, damning report by the American Civil Liberties Union illustrates how costly, ineffective, and racist the policing and criminalization of marijuana has become in the United States. (acluvideos)

The legalization of some drugs, including marijuana, is not the solution per se to the scourge of organized crime. But it is, in any case, a step for improving conditions of health, promoting human rights and taking pressure off the prison system (where most inmates are detained for carrying any quantity of substances), stated Luis Astorga from the Institute for Social Research at the UNAM [National Autonomous University of Mexico].

In an interview with La Jornada, the expert on drug trafficking issues, maintained that Mexico is being "isolated" from the group of countries in Latin America that have undertaken efforts to make their drug  policies and laws more flexible.

Beginning with the head of the federal executive, Enrique Peña Nieto, there is great conservatism on this issue among the political groups in Mexico, so it is up to civil organizations and the society as a whole to contribute elements so some lawmakers can retake the initiative and open a debate on the subject.

Read the rest at Mexico Voices

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