Holy crap, have you read this?
Possessing marijuana, cocaine and even heroin will no longer be a crime in Mexico if the drugs are carried in small amounts for personal use, under legislation passed by the Mexican Congress.
Personally, I think President Bush is probably behind this. And not just because he's looking forward to a long retirement spent as an alcoholic drug addict drifting through Mexico, a la Benny in Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia! But also because it's the perfect solution to his little immigration-related PR problem. Who would possibly want to leave a place where you can shoot heroin with impunity?
Under the legislation, police will not penalize people for possessing up to 5 grams of marijuana, 5 grams of opium, 25 milligrams of heroin or 500 milligrams of cocaine.
People caught with larger quantities of drugs will be treated as narcotics dealers and face increased jail terms under the plan.
The legal changes will also decriminalize the possession of limited quantities of other drugs, including LSD, hallucinogenic mushrooms, amphetamines and peyote -- a psychotropic cactus found in Mexico's northern deserts.
So, it's not exactly a perfect solution. Decriminalizing drug possession sounds like a great start on the road to a more free society, but if you just increase the penalty for dealing drugs while making their purchase consequence free, you miss out on half of the supply-demand equation. You drive demand way way up, and you drive supply down, which only makes the drugs far more expensive, forcing drug addicts to commit more crimes in order to pay for the same amount of drugs.
But otherwise, Vicente, good plan! You've obviously learned a few things from your pal Grande Mono Loco del Norte's management style.
"The object of this law is to not put consumers in jail, but rather those who sell and poison," said Sen. Jorge Zermeno of the ruling National Action Party.
I mean...what can you say to that kind of reasoning? "If you just want to have drugs, you're a consumer. But the guy who sold them to you is a dirty poisoning criminal scumbag!" Guh? Actually, it's pretty much what we say all the time in America about tobacco executives. Smokers, so long as they don't smoke anywhere in public, are just consumers, but these corporate executives who make and distribute cigarettes are vicious merchants of death!
I think hardcore anti-drug Americans ought to be concerned about the fact that pot is now legal in Canada and Mexico. I mean, that kind of peer pressure's just going to wear America down after a while. We're probably already in the process of developing a contact high near the borders, and it's only a matter of time before we start indulging every once in a while along with Canada and Mexico...you know, at NAFTA summits or State Dinners...after we've got a few drinks in us.
Look out, America...Legal weed is coming! It's not just for those with painful glaucoma any more!
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