Leaders, Experts Discuss Legalization of Marijuana at Mexico City Forum Brendan O'Boyle - ArgentinaIndependent.com
go to original September 29, 2013

Former President of Mexico Vicente Fox has backed ex-Microsoft businessman Jamen Shively's plans to create the first legal "Big Marijuana" business. (AssociatedPress)

Drug policy experts joined national leaders in a forum last week in Mexico City to propose various policy reforms regarding the decriminalization and regulation of narcotics. Participants focused much of their debate on the regulation of marijuana as a means to prevent violence, an issue garnering considerable attention throughout Mexico.

Speakers at the forum, which was held at Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies, discussed the ways changes in drug policy could better cater to human rights and could lead to a decrease in levels of drug-related violence.

Proclaiming that the “war on drugs has failed,” Human Rights Watch representative Miguel Vivanco argued that former president Felipe Calderón’s laws against drug consumption have had dangerous repercussions, referencing the 80,000 people assassinated since 2007 in the struggle between rival drug cartels and security forces.

Ethan Nadelmann, of the US-based organization Drug Policy Alliance, was another member of the panel who argued for a more open dialogue about marijuana’s regulation, urging attendees to “consider alternatives other than prohibition.”

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