Worldfocus

09/05/2009 :: 04:37:02 PM
arnold bowers Says:

IN ONE SHORT SENTENCE ABOUT STOPING THE US OF A ON THE DRUGS. NO WAY. DRUGS WILL BECOME LIKE ALCOHOL ONCE IT IS PERMITTED WE WILL SEE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS INJURIED AND KILL BY THE DRUG ADDICTS TRYING TO GET HOME AFTER THEY GET THEIR HITS. So keep them off the streets and in jail for life time or execute them if convicted this would do more to prevent young users than anything. Drugs are not good for no one if uses as they are with them.
lTo those think like Michael Warner yo have the right / correct attitude. do away with the drugs at the root; not on their route. Frank Bowers, 71 no drugs, no alcohol and no cigaretts.

09/01/2009 :: 04:00:37 PM
Vinton Says:

Yes. Like Mexico, we should decriminalize hard drugs but it should be done in a context of a well planned strategy which takes free enterprise out of the picture. All revenues would go to a strictly regulated public agency that would be dedicated to a sustained, continuous information policy designed to inform the public of how dangerous hard drugs are coupled with treatment centers that provide support for abusers who wish to kick their addictions.

As it is now, hundreds of thousands of distributors are in prison at huge public expense while millions of users have nowhere near the support needed to deal with their life-destroying addictions.

Our current policies are essentially head-in-the-sand approaches that we can no longer sustain.

08/30/2009 :: 05:41:42 PM
Sgt. Graham Says:

I think they did good with that desision. Now if only they could cleen up there police departments.

08/29/2009 :: 04:56:04 PM
annjell Says:

I suppose marijuana could be decriminalized. However, the other drugs, no. I’ve noticed, it’s the other drugs that are addictive and destroy lives.

I’m no psychiatrist, however, most people use drugs as a means to escape. And I can say, this country should be more people friendly.

This is one country that divides. To be clear, family members are sent to prison for minor offenses. Children are put in foster care. Family members (cousins, aunts…) only get together for funerals, major holidays. Neighbors don’t know each other - sometimes years. Some people only have contact (let their hair down) online. Employers are to blame for a lot of this madness. There are bosses that likes to hang people’s jobs over their heads (at will employment-threaten jobs).

People are weak, and a lot of this is from boredom, stress, loneliness, or wanting what they can’t have.

Surely, I don’t want to live next door to a “crack head, speed freak, junkie,” they steal, and sometimes hurt/kill people to get their next fix. Marijuana is okay, but, the others, they are the reason people lose their jobs, become homeless, and create monsters (attitude/behavior)and that’s no acceptable.

08/29/2009 :: 03:36:19 PM
Stevengr Says:

Mexico doesn’t do many things right, but this time they made an intelligent move in the right direction.

The US government, pharmaceutical companies & the prison industry all have their own agendas @ stake here & have lived in denial for too long, wasting tax dollars on this so called “war on drugs”, protecting the pharmaceutical companies from competition they can’t control & generating artificial jobs in the US prison industry - more prisons, cops, lawyers, judges and associated agencies, to keep america safe from themselves.

The use & distribution of drugs is a relationship, like any other: user demand generates more suppliers and vice versa. In this case most of the world demand is coming from the US but the US chooses to make the producers, outside this country, the bad guys. Hey, those so called “bad guys” are only doing what any good businessman does: responding to demand. Lets take stock of ourselves before we go & point fingers at others trying a new a different approach to an age old problem - the US is notorious for that.

Personally, I’ve known many professionals, business, medical & others who’ve smoked marijuana socially & for relaxation for many, many years & they are very successful, law-abiding citizens. It’s not usually a daily occurrence but usually several marijuana cigarettes a week, no different from the cocktail crowds @ the country clubs or happy hours in many cities around this country.

However, the US propganda machine insists on portraying most users as teen-agers in a back alley headed for destruction. Nonsense!!!! Let’s get real here.

Thanks Mexico for taking a stand against ignorance & propaganda.

08/29/2009 :: 03:47:58 AM
michael brewster Says:

if anyone has ever read the cannabis tax act of 1937 you would see that it’s based on bad science,bad business and bad politics. it has other uses than just smoking it. it can be used for paper,cloth, hempseed oil and hempseed flour which are very nutritious and the oils can be used for bio-diesel and ethanol production(alternative energy)plus you can harvest three times as much pulp from one acre of cannabis than you can from trees,which means less stress on our forests

08/29/2009 :: 01:03:42 AM
Harry Anslinger Says:

This is actually a pretty progressive move on the part of Mexico. Small time drug offenders have completely clogged the criminal justice system in the United States. These legal actions in the U.S. have turned this into an industry with no end in sight. This strategy has been proven highly ineffective. With Mexico’s new strategy, Mexican Law Enforcement can focus their resources on the big drug dealers. Maybe the U.S. can learn something from the new Mexican strategy.

08/28/2009 :: 01:18:54 PM
Nilak Says:

All nations should move towards the decriminalization of small quantities of marijuana for several reasons: first, it is a victimless and non-violent crime, second the tax revenue it would create would help the U.S. balance the deficit(along with the fact we are not paying the D.E.A. to try and regulate it.) plus with government regulation minors would have much more trouble acquiring the substance. Drug dealers don’t discriminate based on age. We would also save millions, by not locking people up. plus its all natural!

“God made weed, man made booze, Who do you trust?”

08/28/2009 :: 01:03:15 PM
Catherine O'Kelly Says:

It is INSANE that marijuana is still “illegal” here in the USA. I’m a retired professional and I’ve used marijuana steadily since 1968. I have many peers who indulge also. It’s all just a game, the cat and mouse game between cops and robbers. The prison guard union here in California is so powerful that they make darn sure the prisons stay full, and the anti-drug laws guarantee that. Of course, drug use should be decriminalized! What we do to our bodies is our own damn business! I give a big middle finger to all the drug laws. For people that don’t know what “moderate use” means, we have rehabilitation centers for them. Prisons should be for people who commit actual CRIMES. Like those bankers who lured people into sub-prime mortgages.

08/28/2009 :: 11:53:31 AM
Valora Says:

Years ago I used a little this and that, and part of the fun of it was its illegality. So, slowly coming to what I consider an improved condition, zero drug use one of the vows I’ve kept, I’m all for cutting it out, but I believe fewer people would want to get involved with drugs if they were legal.

08/28/2009 :: 10:32:29 AM
Derrick Says:

Its going to be done evetually sooner look how much we will benefit

08/28/2009 :: 09:29:46 AM
Bill Harris Says:

Debaters debate the two wars as if Nixon’s civil war on Woodstock Nation didn’t yet run amok. One needn’t travel to China to find indigenous cultures lacking human rights or to Cuba for political prisoners. America leads the world in percentile behind bars, thanks to ongoing persecution of hippies, radicals, and non-whites under banner of the war on drugs. If we’re all about spreading liberty abroad, then why mix the message at home? Peace on the home front would enhance credibility.

The drug czar’s Rx for prison fodder costs dearly, as lives are flushed down expensive tubes. My shaman’s second opinion is that psychoactive plants are God’s gift. In God’s eyes, it’s all good (Gen.1:12). The administration claims it wants to reduce demand for cartel product, but extraditing Canadian seed vendor Marc Emery increases demand. Mr. Emery enables American farmers to steal cartel customers with superior domestic product.

The constitutionality of the CSA (Controlled Substances Act of 1970) derives from an interstate commerce clause. This clause is invoked to finance organized crime, endanger homeland security, and throw good money after bad. Official policy is to eradicate, not tax, the number-one cash crop in the land. America rejected prohibition, but it’s back. Apparently, SWAT teams don’t need no stinking amendment.

Nixon promised the Schafer Commission would support the criminalization of his enemies, but it didn’t. No matter, the witch-hunt was on. No amendments can assure due process under an anti-science law without due process itself. Psychology hailed the breakthrough potential of LSD, until the CSA halted all research. Marijuana has no medical use, period.

The RFRA (Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993) allows Native American Church members to eat peyote, which functions like LSD. Americans shouldn’t need a specific church membership to obtain their birthright freedom of religion. Denial of entheogen sacrament to any American, for mediation of communion with his or her maker, precludes the free exercise of religious liberty.

Freedom of speech presupposes freedom of thought. The Constitution doesn’t enumerate any governmental power to embargo diverse states of mind. How and when did government usurp this power to coerce conformity? The Mayflower sailed to escape coerced conformity. Legislators who would limit cognitive liberty lack jurisdiction.

Common-law must hold that adults own their bodies. The Founding Fathers decreed that the right to the pursuit of happiness is inalienable. Socrates said to know your self. Lawmakers should not presume to thwart the intelligent design that molecular keys unlock spiritual doors. Persons who appreciate their own free choice of path in life should tolerate seekers’ self-exploration.

Simple majorities in each house could put repeal of the CSA on the president’s desk. The books have ample law on them without the CSA. The usual caveats remain in effect. You are liable for damages when you screw up. Strong medicine requires prescription. Employees can be fired for poor job performance. No harm, no foul; and no excuse, either. Replace the war on drugs with a frugal, constitutional, science-based drugs policy.

08/28/2009 :: 09:23:11 AM
Charles Shaver Says:

After a cursory viewing of most of the comments already posted, it seems that most of the aspects of the issues have been addressed, to some extent. One aspect that this senior American believes is deserving of additional comment is the legality of the so called ‘War on drugs.’

To the best of my knowledge, having been familiar with the U.S. Constitution since junior high school in the late fifties and often referencing it and referring to it in email and letters to people in ‘high’ places, there is no provision in the Constitution to allow any agency, branch, department, level or office of government in the U.S. to tell any generally constructive, productive and responsible adult citizen what he or she may or may not choose to inhale or ingest, to feel good in stressful and unpleasant environments created and maintained by partisan professional capitalist Christian (primarily) money, power and war addicts and mongers.

Decades of corporate, congressional and presidential misconduct have brought America down to where it is today, not working-class drug use. Effectively, the war on drugs, just like the other illegal, immoral, unconstitutional and just plain stupid wars of contrivance and convenience, primarily help to keep making the rich, richer, and the poor more enslaved (unnecessary taxation is tantamount to slavery). Don’t blame Republicans; don’t blame Democrats; blame both; vote ‘other.’

Furthermore, whether addressing addiction to alcohol, cigarettes, hard drugs, money, power or war; I believe it is the individual dependency, not the behavior or substance, that needs to be addressed. Almost anything natural is safe in moderation; almost nothing natural is safe in the extreme. May reason prevail.

08/28/2009 :: 05:32:36 AM
chris s Says:

i’m a bio-engeeneering student whose smoked bud everyday for years, arrest me, go ahead. im leading cancer research and the less diabetic comas the better off we all are.

08/28/2009 :: 01:14:35 AM
David Hirschi Says:

I believe the Mexican Government is exactly on focus by decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of drugs.
It is something that would have happened here in the United States if it weren’t for all of the very powerful organizations and companies that have a vested interest in keeping the status quo.
The private prison companies.
The police unions.
Just think how many policemen and prison guards and the multitude of administrators and support people in these organizations would become unemployed if drugs were decriminalized.
What would happen to all of the companies that supply this vast police state with their wonderful equipment to run their so called “War On Drugs”.
(Who came up with that slogan anyway? It had to be a marketing genius)
I mean really people, where do you think the trillions of dollars that have been spent on the “War On Drugs” has gone?
There have been several studies that have indicated that it is very possible that our drug problem would be essentially over if we had decimalized drug possession and use 30 years ago, and invested 20 percent of what we have spent on, again, “The War On Drugs” on better education of our children, mental health care, and treatment for the VICTIMS of drugs use.
I’m absolutely sure that the Government would have put a hefty tax on the use of “legal drugs”, just like they did with alcohol.
With those extra taxes, and the 80 percent we would have saved that we have spent on the “War”, we likely wouldn’t have a problem financing what we should have done a long, long time ago.
1) Provide adequate health care to all Americans.
2) Put our Social Security Money in the Bank.
Wars are very expensive, in dollars and in lives.
How long is it going to take for the United States of America to learn this lesson and remember it?

End the war in Iraq that should have stayed in Afghanistan.
End the war on drugs, which is mainly a war on our own people.
Legalize drugs. Put the drug cartels out of business.
Show that we care about all of our citizens.

08/28/2009 :: 01:03:02 AM
Don Mappes Says:

This is a small step in the right direction. Addiction is a medical condition. Prosecuting people for having symptoms of a disease is beyond stupid, its insane. Albert Einstein observed that insanity “is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.

The war on drugs is being fought with the same results as our wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The efficacy of the United States’ current drug policy illustrates Jorge Santayana’s observation that “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”. When will we realize that prohibition does not work?

Current American drug policy has resulted in higher drug experimentation and addiction rates than in European countries focused on public health and harm reduction. Our current drug policy results in a $50 Billion transfer of wealth to the Mexican drug cartels and to the Taliban. It also wastes about a Billion dollars a year incarcerating patients as criminals. Zero tolerance is the primary reason California is bankrupt.

Drug policy would be more effective if it were determined by science and medical evidence, instead of the politics of fear and greed. It will take true courage to change the current course of American drug policy.

08/28/2009 :: 12:58:31 AM
Tina Says:

I was going to write an elaborate explaination of why Mexico is right and this is a no-brainer. But after reading all of the other comments, I can see that everyone has already figured this out.

So, the question is; If this is such a good idea, why hasn’t our government done this some time ago?

What do they have to gain by not decrimializing the use of drugs?

08/28/2009 :: 12:39:28 AM
Nathan R Vail III Says:

Yes they were right to stop sending thousands of people to jail for possession of small amounts for personal use. As we should have long ago. The “war” against drugs, like the other phony wars we seem addicted to (poverty, terrorism), is a dismal failure. The US interdiction has been successful neither at the point of origin nor at the point of distribution; we have however brought organized crime and made the mafiosi rich. Treat the stuff as a cash crop and tax the hell out of it, if you wish, but let’s stop fighting reality.

08/28/2009 :: 12:33:26 AM
BeBe Says:

Mexico is taking not only the right approach but the lead in ending the prosecution and persecution of people caught with small amounts of marijuana and other drugs ushering in focus on the larger issues of use and abuse with addictive substances in general.
When drugs are no longer illegal - availability will go up and the prices will go down. When it is no longer profitable (freely available) criminals will loose interest.

08/28/2009 :: 12:30:39 AM
MRA Says:

What many fail to realize is drug cartels contribute heavily to certain political coffers to keep it illegal because when it’s illegal they make more money. Think about it, four main groups profit from drug prohibition, police, politicians, prison guard unions and cartels.
Is anyone else turning a profit like that? i didn’t think so.

08/28/2009 :: 12:26:08 AM
Tim Preseau Says:

I say decriminalize marijuana. I’ve been saying this since the 60’s.

08/28/2009 :: 12:24:30 AM
MRA Says:

As a former heroin addict I know the hell addicts go through daily for no reason whatsoever. The vast majority of addicts steal ONLY because criminalization alone drives prices up because the chance taking is a risk people demand payment for. Even Wall Street gets paid more for risk taking. That’s the entire reason companies get billions in credit card payments, risk taking.
The street level dealers know that often these risks can get them decades in prison so they jack the price up, cut poisons into the product for more profit and the addicts also have to take risk every single day and also face long jail time quite often.
Take the extreme risk out of the equation and the price drops, the crime drops, demand goes down and it’s a done deal because so many more resources are freed up to fight real crime instead of pretend crime.
Give it time and the US will be Mexico’s dumping ground instead of the the other way around. Millions of illegals will go back, get rich and we’ll go quietly broke paying billions to lock people up needlessly.

08/28/2009 :: 12:02:31 AM
Robb Heffelfinger Says:

As a person that has worked very hard to bring themselves up from the streets I have seen various degrees of drug use. As a kid the temptation to use drug to escape ones problems is an option that many in the community sadly do take. As I grew up it was not until I finished university that I realized that harder and expensive drugs are used by the upper class of our society. The point that I’m getting at is that every social class has an illegal drug of choice.
One simply needs to look at the stats of American drug users and quickly a pattern of increase consumption can be seen. Congruent to this, most of the people in jail are not violent offenders, but are convicts of drug related matters. With the overcrowding of prisons, the endless resources given to police, and America never-ending consumption for illegal drugs, it is safe to say that we have lost the war on drugs, and it is a domestic war that we will never win until we change the way that we fight.
The first step that the government must do to win is say no to treating drug use like a criminal act and more like a medical condition. Just looking at the way that the government has fought this war shows that treating drug dealers and users like enemies is not going to work. Lock one drug dealer up, and another will take their place the next day, and a user will always be a user until they go through some rehab program.
We need to take note from places like Amsterdam, and Vancouver. Since the decimalization of marijuana, and other “softer” drugs, violent crimes have gone down, court rooms have freed up, and more resources are available to take on more dangerous drugs. This will also separate those that do “softer” drugs from the drug dealers that supply and are not afraid to be violent. We can no longer corral all illegal drugs together. I don’t want our society to become a bunch of burnouts, but at the same time the worst thing will happen if we do not focus on fighting against the drugs that ruin lives.
I believe that looking the other way like Mexico is not the right way to handle this issue, but rather to issue fines to the individual to pay and tickets to appear in rehab. This will help fund the war on drugs and will provide the best alternative to throwing money down at a war we can’t win.

08/27/2009 :: 11:59:24 PM
Jeffrey Gray Says:

We’ve been getting stoned in this nation for years. The war on drugs has had minimal effect. Our jails are over-flowing with non violent small time drug users & dealers. In my opinion small time drug use has been, is, and will be a fact in this nation. Its the government that hasn’t figured this out yet.

08/27/2009 :: 11:43:13 PM
Goooooober Says:

Too much common sense involved here for the average politician

08/27/2009 :: 11:35:47 PM
Joel Murph Says:

Thank God for common sense .. decriminalizing marijuana is a no brainer. Get’Er Done

Even hemp, which has no cannaboids to get high with is illegal, .. but 60 years ago was good enough for every military in the world to use in ropes during WW11, …

08/27/2009 :: 11:18:04 PM
K. Rand Says:

I think this is the best news I have heard in a long time. I would say that I have agreed with decriminalization of drugs since the 1970s. The ‘war on drugs’ is just another typical aggressive US action; consider the US attempted to make drinking alcohol illegal and it led to increase in crime. I believe it is the end purchaser and user who suffer from making drugs a criminal offence and I think decriminalization leading to mass usage of drugs is a mistrust of most citizens.

My position on immigration is that the US needs to realise that if unfilled jobs were not available, we would not have people moving here. I have often wished we had a citizen exchange program with Mexico, allowing some of our retired to live in Mexico as citizens. I have not been a drug user; however, after being sick for some years, I believe that it should be my decision to use any drug to reduce pain. I would not trust living in the USA with terminal cancer. Mexico would be more an attractive place to spend my last days of life.

08/27/2009 :: 11:06:52 PM
Ken Fermoyle Says:

Mexico has the right idea. Our “drug war” has been an enormously expensive failure from its start. It has cost dearly in taxpayer money, resources & was the excuse to get around “posse comitatus” and allow use of federal military in domestic civilian law enforcement. It has filled our prisons with petty offenders. We need a more enlightened approach: to treat addiction as a medical problem & to decriminalize possession of small amounts of controlled substances, especially marijuana, por personal use.

08/27/2009 :: 10:55:25 PM
Tommy G from the 509 Says:

I think Mexico is on the right track. The US simply cannot afford to police small, non-peace disturbing drug use any more. We have bigger fish to fry as a nation.

08/27/2009 :: 10:46:08 PM
George Squires Says:

In the US young people have developed the attitude that, they are criminals and can’t participate in sports, civics, or politics. They feel ostrasized because of the mean spirit of the war on drugs. Hey its ok to drink though. Why subject yourself to extreme pursecution. Why try with a pot history behind you. Your opinion doesn’t mean squat if they can throw that at you.

08/27/2009 :: 10:35:27 PM
Pam Fairbanks Says:

Decriminalizing use of certain drugs in prescribed amounts would remove the profit motive of the drug cartels, make it much less lucrative and decrease the violence associated with that industry. We need those laws to be enacted in this country if we wish to see any improvement in our own problem with drug usage.

08/27/2009 :: 10:24:42 PM
wilfredtjones Says:

We need to ask ourselves why Marijuana is illegal in the first place. I do not condone its illegality and believe it highlights the importance of being informed on the reasons why it is illegal. Truth is Marijuana never killed anyone despite the ‘reefer madness’ and Nixon and his cronies could never kill the hippies. Power to the people.

08/27/2009 :: 09:54:26 PM
Callie Says:

Go Mexico! Remove the law, take away the thrill, there goes the money, why bother? One must ask one’s government why would people need to escape reality if countries were run in the public interest? If there is finger pointing to do be it is at our elected officials for running us amock.

08/27/2009 :: 09:43:30 PM
john martinez Says:

legalize all except meth…a great step forward, alot of drug users are good people serving society well like myself… america will suffer again for being passive towards the fair treatment of its citizens.

08/27/2009 :: 09:10:55 PM
Guy Ayers Says:

Legalize all drugs, not just the most dangerous ones (alchohol, tobacco, and firearms). Let the cartels, corrupt governments, prison workers unions, and the CIA find other ways to meet expenses.

08/27/2009 :: 08:58:16 PM
Teresa Miller & Bruce Waterman Says:

Yes, absolutely. One small step for humanity, one large step for political reality.

08/27/2009 :: 08:47:34 PM
c.h.kay,jr Says:

decriminalize drug usage and this will take the money from the drug cartel

08/27/2009 :: 08:47:12 PM
Derek Tennant Says:

From the human perspective, it is tragic the number of lives we have ruined by incarcerating non-violent drug offenders, in some cases for longer than we imprison murderers. Decriminalization not only reduces crime, it saves the state money by lowering the prison population. California may legalize and tax marijuana. As a source of revenue for this cash-strapped state, this makes sense. I vote for decriminalization, especially since alcohol kills thousands of times more people every year, yet remains legal.

08/27/2009 :: 08:46:36 PM
Larry Roberts Says:

Prescription drug use causes far more deaths than the private use of illicit substances. Mexico is right, and jobs will be created in the rehab fields rather than low skilled prison guards.

08/27/2009 :: 08:42:49 PM
Karlene K. Bergold Says:

I applaud Mexico and the other Latin American countries for their courage. It’s long past time for the U.S. to do so. The only way to remove the money from the drug trade is to legalize it. When that was done with alcohol, the killings stopped. Far too many lives have been lost needlessly and far too many criminals have enriched themselves on our stupidity.

08/27/2009 :: 08:33:59 PM
mark linden Says:

Let’s focus our resources on curbing crimes involving violence, theft, etc. No one should be incarcerated or in the criminal system for using drugs.

Resources in the criminal system should be for dealing with people who are threats to others.

Marijuana, cocaine, alcohol, etc….all are drugs, the use of which should be treated from a medical perspective, not a criminal one.

08/27/2009 :: 08:15:59 PM
Joan Says:

Drug uabuse ought to be considered a medical problem, much as excessive alcohol use is. Drugs should not be illegal; they should be sold with prescriptions, and supervised by doctors. It would be much cheaper for our government to pay for rehabilitation programs and addiction withdrawal medicines, than to pay for jails. It also would be more compassionate. It strikes me that the republicans, who include a lot of conservative Christians, are very unforgiving and unloving. Instead they are very punative and vengeful. This is not what Christ taught.

08/27/2009 :: 07:56:21 PM
Eric Says:

I can’t honestly believe that anyone would still be in favor of criminalizing marijuana.

And for the destructive drugs like heroin and meth, the only way to break the cycle is to break the market. As long as it’s illegal, it will be made by gun toting psychos. Legalize it for pharmaceutical companies to make, for those addicted to it let doctors prescribe it, and the street quantities will vanish.

Drug dealers just want to make money; the minute they can’t make it selling drugs, they’ll vanish and get a real job.

08/27/2009 :: 07:45:37 PM
David P. Price Says:

The US “War on Drugs” has spanned 40 yrs. and had 0 impact on reducing drug use. Putting someone in prison for self-destructive behavior does not deter drug use, but creates contempt for society. Our draconian system has had no effect other than creating the largest and most violent prison population in the world.

Research and education are the only solution to drug use. But that does not sound macho, so politicians opt for continually escalating the law enforcement option.

When faced w/ more severe penalties, the traffickers have responded by increasing the price for their product (to compensate for their risk). In turn this has created a satellite problem of poor inner city addicts committing robberies and property crimes to pay for their habit. It is time to admit the “War on Drugs” has failed.

Mexico is following a more enlightened approach.

08/27/2009 :: 07:40:48 PM
Jacob Says:

America is less than 5% of the world population, yet we have 25% of the worlds’ prisoners, many are in for non-violent marijuana related “crimes”. We need to free some space.

Collecting the revenue from this crop would undoubtedly help our economy enormously and take away revenue from gangs:
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=2735017&page=1

Fun Facts:
http://www.youtube.com/v/zfiaC-2K1LM&hl=en&fs=1&

Marijuana good for cancer?:
http://blog.norml.org/2009/07/30/marijuana-use-associated-with-a-significantly-reduced-risk-of-head-and-neck-cancers-will-the-mainstream-media-care/

Regulate it like alcohol:
http://www.change.org/ideas/116/view_blog/bill_to_tax_regulate_marijuana_introduced_in_california

Krishna and other gods smoked marijuana in India’s scripture and sacred stories. the Rastafarians smoke it in large amounts–claiming it is a miracle healing herb directly from God, and find quotes from the Old Testament of the Bible to support their beliefs.

08/27/2009 :: 07:24:57 PM
sam granato Says:

We should have done what Mexico is doing years ago.

08/27/2009 :: 07:16:00 PM
Croft Woodruff Says:

Portugal, Switzerland and Holland have also decrimnalized the use of illicit drugs.If you want to stop the smugglers and pushers of heroin, cocaine and cannabis and put them out of business you make the drugs legal and available to the addicts and other users at cost or free if necessary. By destroying the market and profit for the illicit drug trade you destroy the trade’s reason for being. A simple principle of free enterprise. You would think that the the USA - the great fortress of free enterprise would have recognized that fact a long time ago. The demonizing of natural therapeutics was a boon for the patented variety peddled by Big Pharma.
In 1915 in the Journal of the AMA, Dr. David Macht, Instructor in Clinical Medicine and Lecturer in Pharmacology at Johns Hopkins University wrote: “If the entire materia medica at our disposal were limited to the choice and use of only one drug, I am sure that a great many, if not the majority, of us would choose opium; and I am convinced that if we were to select, say half a dozen of the most important drugs in the Pharmacopoeia, we should all place opium in the first rank.” (Drug War: Covert Money, Power & Policy).

A 1958 chemical analysis confirmed the natural phyto-estrogen content and the quality of the herbal extracts contained in Lydia Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound. Thus, far from being bunkum, Lydia Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound was probably the best female tonic on the market during the 19th century

08/27/2009 :: 07:00:40 PM
Daniel Mehlhorn Says:

Lets have national health care thats paid for with legalized marijuana tax dollars. Its a no brainer.

08/27/2009 :: 07:00:07 PM
Ed Gustafson Says:

Mexico is right (to not prosecute small amounts of drugs) - considering their budget constraints. The USA should also consider this path - considering the cost of maintaining laws, finding, arresting, prosecuting, imprisoning, and subjecting so many individuals to hardcore criminals in the prison system - these drug users often have no other criminal history. Licensing similar to alcohol could go far to eliminate an entire black market and underground economy.

08/27/2009 :: 06:47:05 PM
Kailey Says:

Marijuana shouldn’t be the first part of the question first of all. Maybe saying “people caught with heroin or other drugs” Marjuana has been around for over 50,000,000 years. I don’t agree with legalizing heroin or coccaine crystal meth etc.. Marijuana has never killed or has any documented case where it has caused lung cancer, nor does it kill brain cells. I think that Marijuana should have been legal along time ago. It has sooooo many more uses than any other natural grown crop in the world. Mind you it is the strongest fiber in the world. So saying that I think that all other drugs people should be held responsible for dealing or using such hard drugs. Marijuana has been proven to help with over 200 medical uses. I understand the it’s a human’s choice if they want to enject themselves with $500 worth of heroin a day but when more and more people die everyday from the harder drugs I think we should stop it insted of cracking down on people who just want to smoke several blunts/doobies a day and all they wanna do is play some video games, Joke, eat and sleep. Come on people lets get it right. Stop bring up Marijuana like it’s the number one killer substance in the world it’s not! Not one. it’s ciggerettes, alcohol, and caffine. Did you know that? well with that said I don’t think small amounts of hard drugs should be legal in mexico or anywhere. Marijuana should be legal world wide.

08/27/2009 :: 06:46:04 PM
Dora V Guerra Says:

There’s little doubt that America’s war on drugs has been a dismal failure and that Mexico is suffering as a direct result of that failure, bringing to mind the adage “Poor Mexico, so close to the United States, so far from God.” Mexico should do whatever works to lessen the suffering of the Mexican people. It isn’t as though this change in their drug enforcement policy will make drugs any more available than they already are since, from what I understand, in the United States, drugs are available to anyone who wants them now; and as time goes on, we are seeing more homegrown drugs available. I just wonder how enormous our savings would be if we redirected all of our drug enforcement resources (including the billions we give to other countries) to drug treatment programs and to our Medicare and health systems here in the USA.

08/27/2009 :: 06:42:35 PM
Jeff Biertzer Says:

This has to happen. Our country cannot afford to go any longer with this incredibly hypocritical attitude that marijuana is the “evil” drug, and alcohol is acceptable.We have wasted countless money,lives and resources on this absolute joke known as the war on drugs!! To ever win this war, which we never will, you have to eliminate the demand, which we never will. Why? Because people enjoy it, just like alcohol.And it would be my bet that if alcohol was invented today, it would be illegal, based on the destructive behavior it can and has caused our society.As long as there is a demand, and there is a huge one in this country,(for marijuana)there will always be a supply. So if this country of ours would simply see the effect of legalizing,taxing it as we do alcohol, controlling its quality and distribution, our prisons would benefit by releasing these non-violent martyrs and revenue raised by the controlled legalized sale would probably decrease our national debt as impressiveley as any program ever set forth.As with any recreational drug, responsible use is imperative,though as a former user, I’d much rather deal with an individual who had to much to smoke, rather than one who had too much to drink.Ask any law enforcement officer,I’m sure they would agree.
This just has to happen.Congratulations,Mexico.

08/27/2009 :: 06:41:42 PM
Nancy Breslow Says:

Apart from the first [joke or rabid imperialist] comment, it’s unanimous. At the least, decriminalization.

But even better would be legalization. It’s an inalienable human right to put into our bodies what we wish, so long as we do not harm others.

08/27/2009 :: 06:36:22 PM
Eric Bern Says:

Decriminalize now!!!

I can’t believe that Mexico, a known conservative nation, is on the move to do something near radical from the status quo. Either way, some people are going to stop making as much money.

Just like many others have argued; why do we continue to spend so much money on the war of drugs when it could have been spent on social programs to help with substance abuse?

I believe in the US we are taught that illegal substances such as marijuana, cocaine, and LSD are wrong and evil meanwhile a large portion of our citizens are dependant of and abusing prescription drugs and alcohol (somehow legal, somehow intoxicate at similar/near similar potency). We are a nation full of contridications, how is alcohol any better? It’s tolerated by social conservatives.

It’s time to cut Joes and Janes some slack and penalize violence and fraud.

08/27/2009 :: 06:35:18 PM
JMiller Says:

Mexico is right on. Legalize marijuana in the US, tax it and use the money for healthcare and healthier food for children. Release the many, many marijuana related prisoner from prison. Much money savings there!

08/27/2009 :: 06:34:38 PM
ez Says:

a rational decision the us needs to follow—-legalize and tax marijuana

08/27/2009 :: 06:25:20 PM
CGodin Says:

Use the money for healthcare, legalize & tax.

08/27/2009 :: 06:16:27 PM
William Pettas Says:

Attempts to control drugs is like emptying the ocean with a spoon. All drugs should be legalized and their manufacture and distribution in the USA unhampered. This will stop a great deal of criminal activity and save many billions of dollars now flowing out of the country and going to illicit purposes. Free drugs but tax them as we do cigarettes and liquor.

08/27/2009 :: 06:14:32 PM
john brewer Says:

Way overdue for mexico! It sucks to know that a couple of years ago they tried to decriminalize small amounts - how many lives could have been saved?Portugal has decriminalized for over 7 years and have actualy had a decrease in violence. I hope the US can catch on to the strategy of not making a peaceful citizen a criminal for his personal use. If so 70% of our country will be in prison and who will be left to pay for it? AND Re:” make a new sate out of Mexico?” WTF? This guy should of been a conquistador but at least he can be a Bush/mcain supporter and ” go in there and take all the oil and bananas!!” < crazy

08/27/2009 :: 06:11:46 PM
Lynne Gray Says:

When are we going to decriminalize all drug use? Just think, we could make them all legal and benefit in many ways.

08/27/2009 :: 06:11:37 PM
GG Johnson Says:

I am in favor of decriminalizing drug use. Experimentation and abuse of drugs is a medical and social concern. I do not use or promote drug use, but I do not view drug or alcohol use as a crime.

08/27/2009 :: 06:11:33 PM
Kevin Martin Says:

I agree with Mexico, I personally know someone here in America, who was caught with a baggy, and some crumbs of cocaine,and he was charged with a felony, he now has a very difficult time getting a job.

08/27/2009 :: 06:00:34 PM
joe Says:

America is the problem with drugs in the world. We are the user and won’t do anything about fixing our habit. So the world should go their own way on this. Yes legalize small amounts. Some people think that America is the end all in the world. We don’t fix our problem because certain people would lose money, and they buy off Congress.

08/27/2009 :: 06:00:32 PM
karen mcmullen Says:

I agree with Mexico. We must stop putting half our men and women in jail for possessing small amount of drugs for their own consumption. it’s their body, where is the freedom.? All that wasted money.

08/27/2009 :: 05:43:30 PM
TommyK Says:

In Favor - especially marijuana. Decriminalization is a humanistic, cost effective way to focus additional resources on more important criminal activity while sparing the common citizen the frustrated wrath of the state. The next step legalization could provide additional tax revenue, destroy blackmarket activity and repair the social fabric.

08/27/2009 :: 05:34:57 PM
David Morgan Says:

The enormous cost of ‘the war on drugs’ to taxpayers since Ms. Reagan spearheaded the effort in the early 80’s could have been better spent on healthcare, education, substance abuse….to name just a few. Recent studies have shown that 90% of the nations currency is contaminated with cocaine. The city with the highest contamination levels: Washington DC. Hypocrisy and Righteousness are costly agendas in this nation’s capital.

08/27/2009 :: 05:32:26 PM
Becky salter Says:

The Us needs to follow Mexico and decriminalize drugs and treat drug addiction as a health issue and stop creating a criminal class. Decriminalization is the way.

08/27/2009 :: 05:28:19 PM
George M Carter Says:

After decades of an utterly failed “war on some drugs” that has cost lives, families, judicial resources while solving nothing, Mexico’s move is a refreshing shift.

As a former user, I am quite well aware that substance use is not necessarily a lifelong pursuit, though it can be. It is a health issue. And treating people has long been recognized as a far less costly approach than interdiction–let alone far more humane. Prohibition merely makes for a highly lucrative black market — and thus the violence and bloodshed from Ciudad Juarez to Cambodia to New York City. (Let alone Afghanistan! Poppies for medical use would cut the financial resources from the Taliban and help thousands with chronic, debilitating pain.)

It is a move of logic, compassion and intelligence.

THANK YOU for airing this interview.

08/27/2009 :: 05:18:58 PM
penny khaled Says:

Putting someone into jail for possessing a small amount of any drug does not stop them from taking drugs when they leave.What it does is make a person a criminal which then influences their future life. Using drugs,as alcohol, is a social ill that should be handled with a program to stop the person from taking the drug or alcohol. Narconon is such a program and should be used by the government.Narconon works - it should be used by the government to help its people. It would cost far less to put a user through such a program than keeping them in jail and having them taught how to commit crime and come out from jail still addicted to drugs or alcohol.

08/27/2009 :: 05:00:45 PM
Kendrick Lee Says:

De-criminalization is very long over-due. Stopping the production and transit of drugs ignores the demand side of the business. Legalize drugs trades, and bring the revenue into the tax base. Remove the mystique of the illegal.

08/27/2009 :: 04:54:35 PM
Joseph M. Benoit Says:

Mexico is definitely taking the right approach with the decriminalization of possessing small amounts of drugs.

U. S. states such as Louisiana have built industries out of “drug abuse awareness” programs. The only results that these programs produce are revenue generation for local municipalities, and huge profits for the companies running the programs.

Criminal sentences create large groups of people who can no longer have productive jobs, while persons with alcohol abuse problems continue to drive cars, hold jobs where they are constantly underperforming, and running up huge medical bills due to the effects of long term alcohol use. Many of these people are the lawyers and lawmakers who perpetuate the lie that users of small amounts of drugs such as marijuana are a menace to, and a plague upon society.

When police are freed up to investigate and capture serial rapists, bank robbers, and other violent criminals, our court system will become less burdened, our jails will no longer be overcrowded, and non-violent offenders will no longer be incarcerated, where they are preyed upon, abused, and then released into a world carrying the stigma of having been imprisoned.

08/27/2009 :: 04:53:53 PM
Joseph M. Benoit Says:

Mexico is definitely taking the right approach with the decriminalization of possessing small amounts of drugs.

U. S. states such as Louisiana have built industries out of “drug abuse awareness” programs. The only results that these programs produce are revenue generation for local municipalities, and huge profits for the companies running the programs.

Criminal sentences create large groups of people who can no longer have productive jobs, while persons with alcohol abuse problems continue to drive cars, hold jobs where they are constantly underperforming, and running up huge medical bills due to the effects of long term alcohol use. Many of these people are the lawyers and lawmakers who perpetuate the lie that users of small amounts of drugs such as marijuana are a menace to, and a plague upon society.

When police are freed up to investigate and capture serial rapists, bank robbers, and other violent criminals, our court system will become less burdened, our jails will no longer be overcrowded, and non-violent offenders will no longer be incarcerated, where they are preyed upon, abused, and then released into a world carrying the stigma oh having been imprisoned.

08/27/2009 :: 04:46:06 PM
Ed Hart Says:

Odd that alcohol addiction is viewed as a disease, but drug use is a evil crime. Either substance is used to get high. The Bill of Rights says we have the RIGHT to the pursuit of happiness, as long as that action does not infringe on another. Legalizing drug use would take away the money gangs make, which would lower crime and increase tax revenue.

08/27/2009 :: 04:35:09 PM
Joel Jackson Says:

“Make a new state of Mexico”

I think you were born several hundred years too late. You should play Age of Empires if you want to conquer other countries. As for drug policy, MORE draconian actions are not what we need.

08/27/2009 :: 04:29:42 PM
Michael Warner Says:

The U.S. should have gone South to Mexico instead of going to Iraq to take out the politicians, the military, and the police. Had we done that in Mexico, that solves the “drug problem” immediately.
Make a new state of Mexico. Call it “Old Mexico”, give them two senators and as many representatives as required by law.
That 51st state would have much to contribute to us; oil, gold, and minerals. We have much to offer them, a reasonable level of democracy, freedom and justice.
Think about it!