Legalizing marijuana use in Canada could be the best way, and maybe the only way, to protect children inclined or forced to use the stuff. That's the view of federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, and the only Canadian political figure of note to have the guts to speak to the issue. Immediately and predictably attacked by his political opponents, Trudeau is nonetheless right to suggest that we, as a society, need to consider new approaches to an old problem. Trudeau's view is likely new to most Canadians, although he has mused about it publicly before. Readers might also be surprised to hear that many Latin American politicians and policy analysts are saying the same thing. [continues 581 words]
Making Its Use Legal Could Severely Impact Gang Activity Everywhere CALGARY - Legalizing marijuana use in Canada could be the best way, and maybe the only way, to protect children inclined or forced to use the stuff. That's the view of Justin Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, and the only Canadian political figure of note to have the guts to speak to the issue. Immediately and predictably attacked by his political opponents, Trudeau is none the less right to suggest we, as a society, need to consider new approaches to an ages-old problem. [continues 618 words]
Re: "Trudeau should rethink legalizing pot," Naomi Lakritz, Opinion, July 26. Legalizing marijuana use in Canada could be the best way, and maybe the only way, to protect children inclined or forced to use the stuff. That's the view of Justin Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, and the only Canadian political figure of note to have the guts to speak to the issue. Immediately and predictably attacked by his political opponents, Trudeau is nonetheless right to suggest that we, as a society, need to consider new approaches to an ages-old problem. [continues 619 words]
MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY (AP) - Uruguay is poised to become the first nation to create a legal, regulated marijuana market, encouraging growers and sellers to produce enough pot to keep users from depending on illegal drug traffickers. The plan to put the government at the center of a legal marijuana industry has made it halfway through the congress, giving President Jose Mujica a long-sought victory in his effort to explore alternatives to the global war on drugs. "I'm an old man ... I never smoked marijuana, but I have come to notice what the life of young people is like," Mujica said Thursday in a radio address defending the proposal that was approved late Wednesday by congress' lower house. "The consumption is already happening - it's around every corner, and it comes from a clandestine market that by nature has ferocious rules. It's a monopoly of mafias." [continues 663 words]
Uruguay is brave and right to legalise cannabis. And so at last we have a country that is bowing to the demands of logic, common sense and sound policy by becoming the first in the world to regulate the production, distribution and sale of cannabis. Uruguay's House of Representatives has passed the necessary bill, which now only needs the approval of the Senate. This is a hugely significant moment in the long march from hysteria to sanity that is the so-called war on drugs. The case for ending prohibition is a combination of principle and practicality. In principle, this newspaper believes that the state has no business stopping people from doing something that might harm themselves, so long as it doesn't harm others. A century of evidence shows that criminalising drugs increases rather than decreases the harm to others. [continues 167 words]
Uruguay's Move Towards Legalising Cannabis Use Has Been Hailed As Groundbreaking, but Will Other South American Nations Follow Suit? Simeon Tegel Reports Uruguay has taken a momentous step towards becoming the first country in the world to create a legal, national market for cannabis after the lower chamber of its Congress voted in favour of the groundbreaking plan. The Bill would allow consumers to either grow up to six plants at home or buy up to 40g per month of the soft drug produced by the government from licensed chemists for recreational or medical use. Previously, although possession of small amounts for personal consumption was not criminalised in the small South American nation, growing and selling it was against the law. PA As Uruguay's Congress vote in favour of legalising cannabis, a citizen enjoys the drug outside [continues 1059 words]
Legalizing marijuana use in Canada could be the best way, and maybe the only way, to protect children inclined or forced to use the stuff. That's the view of Justin Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, and the only Canadian political figure of note to have the guts to speak to the issue. Immediately and predictably attacked by his political opponents, Trudeau is none the less right to suggest that we, as a society, need to consider new approaches to an ages old problem. [continues 646 words]
The country is poised to become the first in Latin America to legalize marijuana. BUENOS AIRES - Uruguay appears likely to become the first Latin American country to legalize marijuana after its lower house of the congress approved a bill to regulate pot and sanction its consumption. Uruguay's upper house, the senate, still must pass the measure, but analysts believe the government-led majority favors the bill and that it will be approved by October. President Jose Mujica is a strong proponent of the measure, which polls show is opposed by a majority of Uruguayans. [continues 417 words]
Uruguay's lower house late Wednesday approved a bill to legalize marijuana, opening the way for the authorities to create one of Latin America's most ambitious nationwide endeavors in overhauling drug policy. After hours of debate, legislators in Uruguay's capital, Montevideo, voted 50-46 in favor of the legislation, which now goes to the Senate, where lawmakers have assured President Jose Mujica that they have a comfortable majority to approve the legislation. [end]
The State's Due Date Spawns a Flood of Applications for Pot Dispensary Inspections Things are happening lightning-fast these days on the cannabis front in Arizona, largely because of a deadline for dispensaries to open, and I am a huge fan of that. Last August, the state held a pingpong ball lottery and issued just shy of 100 dispensary registration certificates. The clock started ticking that day, leaving operators one year to get permission to swing open the doors. Despite a lawsuit that allowed dispensaries more time, all but one met the June 7 deadline to ask for state inspection. (www.azdhs.gov/medicalmarijuana/documents/dispensaries/dispensary-registration-certificate-allocation-results.pdf) [continues 507 words]
(Reuters) - Former Mexican president Vicente Fox took his crusade to legalise cannabis to San Francisco yesterday, joining advocates to urge the United States and his own country to decriminalise the sale and recreational use of cannabis. Fox met for three hours with the advocates, including Steve DeAngelo, the Oakland-based executive director of California's largest cannabis dispensary, and former Microsoft executive Jamen Shively, who hopes to create a Seattle-based pot brand now that Washington state has legalised recreational use. [continues 324 words]
Lou Nalepa, an agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, reached for his ringing cellphone as he guided his car through Portland freeway traffic. On that Friday afternoon in February 2010, he expected to hear from a witness in an upcoming drug trial. Instead, he found on the line a fugitive he'd been chasing for six years. "This is Pocho," said the voice on the other end -- Porfirio Arevalo-Cuevas. The name means little to most Oregonians. But law enforcement officials know Arevalo-Cuevas as one of the most prolific drug traffickers in Oregon history, a violent thug with ties to Mexico's most notorious cartels. [continues 2200 words]
ANTIGUA, Guatemala - Whatever noisy hints Latin America has been making about a defiant march toward legalizing marijuana, the summit meeting of Western Hemisphere foreign ministers that ended Thursday revealed how rocky that path would be - and how many nations remained reluctant to join it. The meeting, the annual General Assembly session of the Organization of American States, followed a report by the organization that called for "flexible approaches" in drug policy and included a headline-grabbing suggestion that the legalization of marijuana be seriously discussed. [continues 836 words]
President Obama helped prevent a move toward pot legalization by some Latin American leaders. But will he be as bold against Colorado, Washington state? Peter Bensinger, a former Drug Enforcement Administration chief, was one of eight former DEA chiefs who recently spoke out in favor of the federal government needing to nullify Colorado and Washington's laws legalizing recreational marijuana use. They said the Obama administration has reacted too slowly and should immediately sue to force the states to rescind the legislation. [continues 502 words]
On the eve of a major conference on drug problems in the Western Hemisphere, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday that jailing people for personal drug use constitutes a human rights violation and called for abolishing criminal penalties. "To deter harmful drug use, governments should rely instead on non-penal regulatory and public health policies," the organization said in a statement released at a news conference in Guatemala, where the annual general assembly of the Organization of American States this week will focus on the drug policies of member governments. "Subjecting people to criminal sanctions for the personal use of drugs, or for possession of drugs for personal use, infringes on their autonomy and right to privacy." [continues 399 words]
ANTIGUA, Guatemala - Latin American countries frustrated by the United States' refusal to change its drug-war strategy are pushing the U.S. government to look at alternatives to a fight that has killed tens of thousands in a region beset by drug cartels. Guatemalan Foreign Relations Secretary Fernando Carrera said the subject of drugs would top the agenda at the Organization of American States' General Assembly, which began its three-day session in Antigua on Tuesday evening. "We have already reached a consensus and agreed that our final declaration will include changes to the current anti-drug model," Carrera said. "We already have some ideas on how to change drug-fighting policies." [continues 577 words]
As Manuel, a Colombian farmer, showed me his peppercorn crops ravaged by the defoliant sprayed in a futile effort to kill his neighbor's drug crops, he explained why the Drug War could never be won. No matter how much money or chemicals drug warriors threw at eradication efforts, he told me, the crops always reappeared. After 40 years of failing to stem the drug trade, there's a global conversation about new approaches. That debate is particularly vibrant south of the Rio Grande. [continues 630 words]
"No international entity is going to dictate legalization, and certainly not to the United States," a top U.S. official says. ANTIGUA, Guatemala -- Four decades after Washington launched its international "war on drugs" in Latin America (the U.S. no longer uses that term), members of the Organization of American States' General Assembly are questioning the logic behind what is increasingly viewed in the region as a failed policy. In a General Assembly meeting that started Tuesday in the colonial town of Antigua, Guatemala, OAS members will begin to explore alternatives to a strategy focused on military and law enforcement intervention to fight the trafficking of illegal drugs, mostly from South America and destined for users in the United States. [continues 729 words]
Canadians should acknowledge Latin Americans' very real grievances with the war on drugs, and our shared responsibility in addressing the problem. The Canadian prime minister visited Colombia and Peru last week, two of the most productive economies in Latin America. Canada sees Latin America, and the Pacific Rim countries in particular, as gateways to freer trade. While extolling the virtues of enhanced trade ties, Harper failed to mention that Colombia and Peru are also two of the largest producers and exporters of cocaine on the planet. Also quietly avoided was any talk of the explosive levels of drug-related violence across the region. Yet Canadians should acknowledge Latin Americans' very real grievances with the war on drugs, and our shared responsibility in addressing the problem. [continues 719 words]
Latin American presidents who support decriminalization of marijuana won a big diplomatic victory in recent days when the 34-country Organization of American States issued a report that considers that option as one of several policies that might help reduce the region's drug-related violence. The 400-page OAS report, titled "The Drug Problem in the Americas," had been commissioned by Latin American countries at last year's Summit of the Americas attended by President Barack Obama in Cartagena. While it doesn't make recommendations, it cites decriminalization of marijuana as one of several policy options that countries might adopt, in effect putting the option on the table. It is believed to be the first time that an international organization considers decriminalization of marijuana use as a possible drug policy. [continues 611 words]
Latin American presidents who support decriminalization of marijuana won a big diplomatic victory in recent days when the 34-country Organization of American States issued a report that considers that option as one of several policies that might help reduce the region's drug-related violence. The 400-page OAS report, titled The Drug Problem in the Americas, had been commissioned by Latin American countries at last year's Summit of the Americas attended by President Barack Obama in Cartagena. While it doesn't make recommendations, it cites decriminalization of marijuana as one of several policy options that countries might adopt, in effect putting the option on the table. It is believed to be the first time that an international organization considers decriminalization of marijuana use as a possible drug policy. [continues 225 words]
The first time I talked to Mark Kleiman, a drug policy expert at UCLA, was in 2002, and he explained why legalization of marijuana was a bad idea. Sure, he said, the government should remove penalties for possession, use and cultivation of small amounts. He did not favor making outlaws of people for enjoying a drug that is less injurious than alcohol or tobacco. View full size But he worried that a robust commercial marketplace would inevitably lead to much more consumption. You don't have to be a prohibitionist to recognize that pot, especially in adolescents and very heavy users, can seriously mess with your brain. [continues 1276 words]
European governments and the Obama administration are this weekend studying a "gamechanging" report on global drugs policy that is being seen in some quarters as the beginning of the end for blanket prohibition. Publication of the Organisation of American States (OAS) review, commissioned at last year's Cartagena Summit of the Americas attended by Barack Obama, reflects growing dissatisfaction among Latin American countries with the current global policy on illicit drugs. It spells out the effects of the policy on many countries and examines what the global drugs trade will look like if the status quo continues. It notes how rapidly countries' unilateral drugs policies are evolving, while at the same time there is a growing consensus over the human costs of the trade. "Growing media attention in many countries, including on social media, reflects a world in which there is far greater awareness of the violence and suffering associated with the drug problem," Jose Miguel Insulza, the secretary general of the OAS, says in a foreword to the review. [continues 500 words]
THE first time I talked to Mark Kleiman, a drug policy expert at U.C.L.A., was in 2002, and he explained why legalization of marijuana was a bad idea. Sure, he said, the government should remove penalties for possession, use and cultivation of small amounts. He did not favor making outlaws of people for enjoying a drug that is less injurious than alcohol or tobacco. But he worried that a robust commercial marketplace would inevitably lead to much more consumption. You don't have to be a prohibitionist to recognize that pot, especially in adolescents and very heavy users, can seriously mess with your brain. [continues 1256 words]
You wouldn't know it from listening to UK officials but a game-changing debate is taking place in the Americas about the war on drugs. There is a growing belief that the current punitive-based approach has failed. It has visited a savage level of violence on Latin America as narco cartels, moving cocaine and cannabis into the US, have butchered and bribed their way through the continent. The killing and corrupting of public officials judges, police, politicians threatened, and still threatens, to demolish the institutions of those states. [continues 232 words]
MEXICO CITY - A comprehensive report on drug policy in the Americas released Friday by a consortium of nations suggests that the legalization of marijuana, but not other illicit drugs, be considered among a range of ideas to reassess how the drug war is carried out. The report, released by the Organization of American States walked a careful line in not recommending any single approach to the drug problem and encouraging "flexibility." Prompted by President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia at the Summit of the Americas last year to answer growing dissatisfaction and calls for new strategies in the drug war, the report's 400 pages mainly summarize and distill previous research and debate on the subject. [continues 678 words]
War on Drugs Organization of American States Urges New Strategy BOGOTA, Colombia - The Organization of American States (OAS) said Friday that countries should consider decriminalizing drug use, a shift backed by several current and former Latin American leaders but opposed by the United States. Decriminalization could be one of many "transitional methods" in a public-health strategy that could include "drug courts, substantive reduction in sentences and rehabilitation," according to a report released by the OAS on the possible liberalization of drug policies. [continues 403 words]
LIMA, Peru - An Organization of American States study commissioned in response to calls by some Latin American leaders for rethinking the war on drugs advocates serious discussion of legalizing marijuana. "Sooner or later decisions in this area will need to be taken," the study released Friday says, although it makes no proposals or specific recommendations on any issue. The $2.2 million study also notes that "no significant support" was found among any of its 35 member nations for the "decriminalization or legalization of the trafficking of other illicit drugs," including cocaine, which most directly affects the region. [continues 92 words]
Officers Have Higher Priorities. What are police officers for, and why do we have them? How are their time and your tax dollars best used? Most people don't often consider these questions, but as Missouri legislators consider changing the laws regarding personal use and possession of marijuana, they are worth pondering. I spent 36 years on the streets of Denver as a police officer, and I'd bet dollars to doughnuts you think police should be using most of their time providing quick response to your calls for service and working to prevent and solve crimes like assault, murder, rape, robbery. I'd bet you would think the old saying "When seconds count, police are only minutes away" should be limited to as few minutes as possible and that police should be just around the corner when someone threatens your property, your well-being or your life. [continues 448 words]
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica - In February 2009, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. declared that international drug trafficking posed "a sustained, serious threat" to Americans. Two months later, President Obama, in his first visit as president to Mexico, made it clear that no issue dominated relations between the two countries more, saying drug cartels there were "sowing chaos in our communities." Last week, Mr. Obama returned to capitals in Latin America with a vastly different message. Relationships with countries racked by drug violence and organized crime should focus more on economic development and less on the endless battles against drug traffickers and organized crime capos that have left few clear victors. The countries, Mexico in particular, need to set their own course on security, with the United States playing more of a backing role. [continues 1031 words]
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama said Thursday that the U.S. will cooperate with Mexico in fighting drug-trafficking and organized crime in any way Mexico's government deems appropriate. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto emphasized that the security relationship must be expanded to focus on trade and commerce. Appearing alongside Pena Nieto at a news conference, Obama recommitted the U.S. to fighting the demand for illegal drugs in Mexico and the flow of illegal guns across the border to Mexico, even as the southern neighbor rethinks how much access it gives to American security agencies. [continues 1034 words]
The United States has been fighting a "war on drugs" since the Nixon era. Yesterday, Republican U.S. Sen. Rob Portman said the fight probably will never end in Ohio and now is the time to start calling it something else. "A lot of people talk about the reference to end drug abuse as an armed conflict because it's a war on drugs," Portman said during his keynote speech at the 2013 Ohio Opiate Conference. "I think it's the wrong way to think of it. I think that in part because millions of our co-workers, our families and others suffer from addiction disorder, and it's not really a war, it's more a public-safety, public-health issue." [continues 326 words]
Ottawa - Bad maps are being blamed after Canadian naval reservists participating in the U.S.-led war on drugs last year sparked a diplomatic flap by firing their weapons and intercepting fishing trawlers in Jamaican waters - without Jamaica's permission. The embarrassing incident, which has never before been publicly reported, broke international maritime law - not the first time legal questions have been raised about Canada's increasing involvement in the drug war. On March 27, 2012, HMCS Goose Bay and Kingston were patrolling south of Jamaica as part of Operation Caribbe, Canada's contribution to an ongoing, U.S.-led anti-drug trafficking mission in the Caribbean and East Pacific. [continues 772 words]
Lady Neidpath, Who Once Drilled a Hole in Her Own Head, Is Dead Serious About Drugs. Nick Curtis Hears Why Our Fear of Illegal Highs Means We Could Be Missing Out on Cures for Depression I DO NOT doubt for one moment the absolute sincerity of the drugs campaigner Amanda Feilding, aka Lady Neidpath, Countess of Wemyss and March. Nor the good sense in her argument that narcotics should be scientifically studied, decriminalised, and licensed and regulated by the state for medical or recreational use as appropriate - a "sensible" alternative to the vast waste of lives and money in the unwinnable War on Drugs. But I can see how easy it is for her opponents to demonise the 70-year-old as a batty aristo. [continues 1565 words]
A proposal by FARC rebels in Colombia to legalize the cultivation of coca, poppy and marijuana for medicinal and cultural reasons was only the latest salvo in an increasingly vocal debate on drug policy reform taking place throughout Latin America. FARC's proposal is unlikely to gain much traction in a nation whose government has vowed to wipe out the drug trade, with significant military backing from the United States. But increasingly, countries from Colombia to Mexico to Uruguay are questioning the U.S. model of uncompromising drug enforcement. [continues 1709 words]
The Conservatives have always talked tough about organized crime in the region, but Canada's foreign-policy goals remain unclear, writes ROBERT MUGGAH. For at least the past five years, Canada has quietly waged a half hearted war on organized crime and drug cartels. Even before Canada's prolonged engagement in Afghanistan started winding down, politicians and strategists were refocusing on real and perceived threats south of the border in Latin America and the Caribbean. After decades of non-engagement, Canada launched an Americas Strategy in 2007, announcing that it would step up its diplomatic, defence and development engagement in some of the most insecure countries on the planet. This was never going to be easy: six of the top 10 most violent countries in the world are in the Western Hemisphere and for some, the situation is worsening. [continues 1073 words]
BOSTON - The global drug war is arguably America's longest armed conflict, declared 42 years ago and still raging at a pace that would startle many citizens. It is waged daily, on farmland and streets from Colombia to Mexico to Detroit. It has put millions of people behind bars, and has dramatically influenced our culture and worldview. By some estimates, it has cost the nation more than $2 trillion dollars. Ironically, the drug war was nearly stillborn. Less than a year after he fired the first salvos, Nixon's Republican-led Shafer commission sought to calm Americans and temper the president's claims. [continues 1180 words]
TWO American states have taken the plunge: Colorado and Washington recently voted to decriminalise possession, if you are over 21, of small amounts of marijuana (although you still can't smoke it in public there). But the White House is warning that these state moves are in violation of federal law the Controlled Substances Act which the government gives notice it intends to continue to enforce. Indeed, President Obama is thinking about more than a warning: he might actually sue the states, and any others that follow Colorado and Washington's leads. Pot legalisation proponents, however, point to the fact that the states' change in the law has been hailed by local law enforcement, because being able to leave small-scale pot users alone means freedup resources for police to go after violent crime. [continues 968 words]
At last, drug prohibition is being challenged by fresh thinking UNTIL recently it seemed that nothing would disturb the international consensus that the best way to deal with narcotic and psychotropic drugs is to ban them. Codified in a United Nations convention, this policy has proved impervious to decades of failure. Drug consumption has not, in most parts of the world, fallen. Prohibition inflicts appalling damage, through the spread of organised crime, the needless deaths of addicts exposed to adulterated drugs and the mass incarceration of young men. [continues 717 words]
It Would Save Money, Be Tough on Crime and Aid Global Security. What Could Be More Conservative? Two European countries have decriminalised all drugs and disproved the argument that usage rises when prohibition is lifted Afew weeks ago I had a coffee with one of the most admired Tory thinkers. A radical libertarian, he spent his time railing against the interventions of Europe and inadequacies of government, arguing how they combined to infringe basic freedoms. Given the stridency of his views and hostility to the state, I asked if he supported the legalisation of drugs. "Oh no," he said. "That's totally different. It's just wrong." [continues 916 words]
MADRID, (Reuters) Guatemalan President Otto Perez said yesterday he is feeling less alone in his drive to re-think the fight against drug-trafficking than a year ago, when he shocked fellow Central American leaders with a proposal to decriminalise narcotics. Guatemala, like its neighbour Mexico, is racked by violence from drug-trafficking cartels that ship South American cocaine to the United States. A Central American nation of 15 million people, Guatemala has one of the world's highest murder rates. [continues 614 words]
U.S. Troops, Pilots Routinely Deployed to Chase, Capture Traffickers The crew members aboard the USS Underwood could see through their night goggles what was happening on the fleeing boat: Someone was dumping bales. When the Navy guided-missile frigate later dropped anchor in Panamanian waters on that sunny August morning, Ensign Clarissa Carpio, a 23-year-old from San Francisco, climbed into the inflatable dinghy with four unarmed sailors and two Coast Guard officers like herself, carrying light submachine guns. It was her first deployment, but Carpio was ready for combat. [continues 1297 words]
Special Units Rely on American Technology and Training, Racking Up Impressive Successes at a Relatively Low Cost. CARTAGENA, Colombia - Under cover of a moonless night in early July, the crew took no more than five minutes to load more than a ton of cocaine on a motorboat beached on a deserted shore of the Guajira peninsula in northeastern Colombia. Equipped with three 200-horsepower engines, the "go-fast" craft then roared off toward the Dominican Republic, the first stop on the drugs' way north. [continues 1543 words]
Deputy Prime Minister Says Politicians Know 'War On Drugs' Is Failing And Prime Minister Must Show Courage Over Issue Divisions between David Cameron and Nick Clegg over Britain's "war on drugs" emerged on Friday after the Liberal Democrat leader said that current policy was not working and accused politicians of "a conspiracy of silence". Committing his party to pledging a major review of how to tackle the drug problem in its 2015 election manifesto, Clegg claimed Britain was losing the war "on an industrial scale". He said Cameron should have the courage to look at issues such as decriminalisation or legalisation of drugs. [continues 724 words]
A Checkered History in Central America Complicates Efforts to Forge Closer Alliances. VILLA NUEVA, Guatemala - Lusvin Jerez has seen, firsthand, the way the U.S. has intervened in the security affairs of his obscure corner of Central America, 1,300 miles from the Texas border. He can't get enough of it. Jerez, 43, once sold home appliances in this violent, slum-dotted city on the outskirts of Guatemala City, but he grew tired of the extortion payments to gang members. So in January, he took a government job overseeing Villa Nueva's new citywide video security system, developed with U.S. dollars and expertise, one of myriad examples of Washington's involvement to help stabilize the violenceracked region. [continues 1134 words]
TABATINGA, Brazil-Two Brazilian police bolted from a helicopter in Peru's Amazon jungle on a recent day with a squad of Peruvian commandos. Cracks of gunfire shook the forest before the group captured and destroyed a secret cocaine lab. The Brazilians had the legal status of unarmed observers during the Aug. 19 raid led by Peru's elite antidrug police. But both Brazilians carried assault rifles and faced hostile fire. The lab was in Peru, but the raiders flew from a Brazilian airport in a chopper running on Brazilian fuel to hit a target provided by a Brazilian-paid informant. From its Amazon border with Peru to its bustling cities, Brazil is getting drawn deeper into a drug war as surging cocaine use turns it into the world's biggest market after the U.S. It is a surprise since Brazilian politicians once criticized aggressive antidrug strategies espoused by the U.S. as causing more harm than good. [continues 1933 words]
Violence Overshadows Neighbor's Economic Growth, Other Assets More Americans have a negative opinion of Mexico than of Russia, and drug violence is the main reason, according to a U.S. national poll. The poll, conducted by Texas-based Vianovo consultants and GSD&M advertising, found that 50 percent of Americans see Mexico unfavorably. In comparison, Russia, a longtime U.S. adversary, is viewed negatively by 39 percent. In addition, the poll found that only 17 percent of Americans view Mexico's economy as modern, and 7 in 10 say Mexico is unsafe for travel. [continues 590 words]
BOGOTA , NOV 18 - Many Latin American countries have made impressive gains in building state capacity and strengthening democracy in recent decades. And yet criminal networks - entrenched relationships between legal and illegal agents engaged in organized criminal activities - continue to play a large role in these countries' formal and informal economies and political institutions, rending the social fabric and threatening further progress. Criminal networks distort the most important sources of change: globalization, technology, open markets, regional cooperation, and democracy. In a context of weak institutions, persistent inequalities, and high levels of marginalization and exclusion, new growth opportunities for organized crime have emerged. [continues 715 words]
In a July 2011 editorial, we called the war on drugs a failure, and said it was time to talk about legalization, especially of marijuana. Back then, this seemed like a radical idea. But just a year later, voters in two states, Colorado and Washington, have gone beyond talk, approving ballot measures to legalize pot in Tuesday's election. Rather than crack down, as it has in states such as California and Montana that have legalized medical use of marijuana, the U. S. government should stay away, treating this as an experiment to see whether legalization works in the ways its proponents say it will. [continues 286 words]
(AP) Uruguayans would be able to grow marijuana at home or in clubs but the state would be in charge of the trade from cultivation to sale under a government led legalization bill presented in the country's legislature Wednesday. The use of cannabis and other drugs is already legal in Uruguay, one of Latin America's safest countries and a trailblazer on liberal lawmaking, but the sale and cultivation of drugs is not. President Jose Mujica, a former leftist guerrilla fighter, says the proposed law would help undermine smuggling gangs and fight petty crime in a region hit by drugs-related violence. Critics say it risks luring more Uruguayans to harder drugs. [continues 69 words]
