Pubdate: Thu, 24 Jan 2013 Source: New Haven Register (CT) Copyright: 2013 Associated Press Contact: http://www.nhregister.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/292 Page: A8 LATIN NATIONS PREPARE FOR LEGAL POT IN U.S. DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) - Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla says her nation, Mexico and Colombia have opened talks with U.S. officials to prepare for the legalization of marijuana in some U.S. states. She said in an interview that the Central American nations worry about what the effect that legalization will have on the battle against international drug cartels. Chinchilla says the drug cartels that have become entrenched in Mexico "pose a very important menace to our country" and U.S. cooperation is needed because it is a huge consumer of those drugs. She also says "it's very hard to pretend that they are going to disappear. What is happening is that they move from one country to another." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom