Pubdate: Sun, 08 Nov 2015
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2015 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.utsandiego.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386
Note: Seldom prints LTEs from outside it's circulation area.
Author: Sandra Dibble

MEXICO SUPREME COURT'S POT RULING STIRS DEBATE...

TIJUANA - A Mexican Supreme Court ruling permitting marijuana use for 
recreational purposes has sparked a sensitive debate in Mexico about 
the country's drug laws, involving health advocates, scholars, law 
enforcement officials, and business and political leaders.

Wednesday's 4-1 decision applies only to four members of an advocacy 
group seeking to decriminalize marijuana, granting them the right to 
consume and produce for their own personal use. Still, the issue has 
touched a nerve for many in Mexico, opening a wide-ranging discussion 
about the country's drug policies.

In Tijuana, the issue has led newscasts, dominated headlines and 
become fodder for radio programs. Baja California has long been 
located on a lucrative smuggling route for marijuana and other drugs 
destined for U.S. consumers, and the issue has hit home for many 
residents who have seen first-hand the effects of drug-related 
violence and consumption.

The day after after the Supreme Court ruling, Baja California Gov. 
Francisco Vega de Lamadrid, a member of Mexico's National Action 
Party, or PAN, spoke of his support for legalizing medical marijuana, 
and urged that more be done to combat addiction.

Tijuana's Mayor Jorge Astiazaran, a member of the country's ruling 
Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, said governments must work 
closely with civil society, "not just to prevent the use of drugs, 
and other kinds of addictions, but also to treat those who are 
already afflicted."

The ruling "opens the debate, so that all levels, including municipal 
governments, members of Congress, health agencies, senators find 
themselves forced to discuss the issue," said Omar Sarabia, a Tijuana 
city councilman who belongs to Mexico's leftist Party of the 
Democratic Revolution, the PRD, which has long advocated liberalized 
marijuana laws. "Today, we have a before and an after in the 
democratic life of Mexico."

In Baja California and in the rest of Mexico, members of the party's 
youth arm, Juventudes de Izquierda, in recent weeks have been passing 
around petitions calling for the decriminalization of marijuana, 
increased drug treatment programs, and licenses to groups of citizens 
who grow marijuana for their own use. The groups' members, who have 
adopted the hashtag #RegulacionYA, or regulation now, is now 
preparing to submit 32 petitions to the Supreme Court, seeking the 
same right granted to the four petitioners who prevailed in last 
week's decision.

While nothing is changing immediately for most Mexicans, "this is a 
huge step," said Fernando Benitez, a Tijuana criminal defense 
attorney who supports decriminalizing all drugs. The current policies 
unjustly target the young and the poor, he said.

"We're just telling ourselves that we're so hard on crime, but we're 
just undermining our youth," he said. "I've been doing this for 23 
years, and the war on drugs is b.s. We're never going to win it. ... 
It's terrifying to see the power that the drug barons yield. The way 
to change that is to mess with their cash."

But many in Mexico continue to oppose legalization, saying it would 
open the door to increased drug use. The Centros de Integracion 
Juvenil, a government-supported nonprofit group with addiction 
treatment centers in Tijuana and across Mexico, states on its website 
that "from a public health point of view, we cannot find any 
sustenance for the legalization of marijuana."

In Tijuana last week, the Roman Catholic archbishop, Rafael Romo 
Munoz, spoke out against the Supreme Court's ruling, telling the 
newspaper El Sol that legalization for recreational purposes "would 
contribute to greater deterioration of society."

Such attitudes have for years pervaded the public discussion. "Most 
Mexicans are far more conservative than people in the United States," 
said David Shirk, a political science professor who heads of the 
Justice in Mexico Project at the University of San Diego. "The large 
majority of Mexicans believe marijuana should not be legal and have 
not used drugs in their life."

Figures released last month by the Gallup poll show 58 percent of 
American adults believe that marijuana should be legal in the United 
States. By contrast, the Mexican public opinion firm Parametria 
reported that that 77 percent of Mexicans oppose legalization of marijuana.

Despite Mexico's more conservative attitudes on marijuana use, the 
country's rules on marijuana possession are more permissive than in 
the United States. A 2009 law decriminalized the personal use of 
small amounts of drugs, including marijuana, heroin, cocaine and 
methamphetamine. The law eliminates sanctions for those carrying up 
to five grams of marijuana for personal use.

Though drug use in Mexico has been rising, experts say rates remain 
far below those in the United States. The Centros de Integracion 
Juvenil figures show that Mexico has some of the lowest rates of 
marijuana use in the Americas, below Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and 
Colombia, while the United States has the highest.

For many, the Supreme Court's ruling gives immediacy to a public 
discussion that has largely taken place out of the mainstream, and 
many public opinion leaders still are grappling with the question.

"If it were true that legalizing consumption would hit the finances 
of drug traffickers, then, well, it would be worth it," said Humberto 
Jaramillo, head of the Tijuana Business Coordinating Council, an 
influential umbrella group. "But I am not so sure. Would this 
permissiveness not lead our youth to choose to use more drugs?"

Gilberto Leyva, president of the Tijuana Chamber of Commerce, said he 
supports legalization, with government regulation. "The trade exists, 
people are consuming, people always gravitate to what's prohibited," 
he said. "Perhaps if we stop prohibiting it, there would be fewer consumers."

Gaston Luken Garza, a businessman who hopes to be on next year's 
Tijuana mayoral ballot as an independent candidate, said, "I find 
myself leaning in favor of legalizing" marijuana. "It needs to be 
mostly approached as a health issue and not as a security or safety issue."

The Supreme Court ruling "is but a small step, but it's a signal that 
things are changing," said Vicente Sanchez, a researcher in public 
administration at the Tijuana-based Colegio de la Frontera Norte. 
"For now, the debate will continue."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom