by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright May 3, 2006
All Rights Reserved.

hrowing the White House for a loop, Mexican President Vicente Fox switched gears and is now expected to sign a liberal new law, legalizing most commonly abused drugs. Following the Libertarian path, Fox and his advisors believe that past drug enforcement laws strengthened Mexico's drug trade. By legalizing commonly abused drugs, including, cocaine, heroin, LSD, marijuana, opium, synthetic opiates, mescaline, peyote, psilocybin, mushrooms and amphetamines, the government hopes reverse the growing influence of drug traffickers and financial burden on Mexico's legal system. Mexico's new drug law eclipses the permissive approach taken in the Netherlands, where small amounts of marijuana and hashish are permitted in coffee houses. Mexico's new law breaks new ground, permitting the possession of significant quantities of previously banned substances.

      Mexico's new law permits possession but doesn't allow public use, sale or distribution of previously banned substances. Mexican lawmakers believe more permissiveness takes the steam out of drug dealers, allowing the government to concentrate on interdiction on major traffickers not prosecution and incarceration of minor offenders. Each Mexican state is given the discretion to impose fines but cannot, under the new federal law, impose jail sentences. “The law constitutes an important step forward by the Mexican state in its battle against drug dealing,” said Eduarado Medina Mora, secretary of public security, Mexico's top law enforcement officer. White House officials don't get how decriminalizing illicit drug use helps the government deal with big-time drug dealers. Mexico's bold move changes the paradigm for treating minor offenders and fighting the drug war.

      Current White House drug policy focuses on punishing terminally ill patients for using medical marijuana. Federal authorities can't decide whether individual states' medical marijuana laws violate federal drug statutes, banning the sale, distribution and use of banned substances for any purpose. Since the Reagan administration, there's no evidence that the federal government has made a dent in narcotrafficking, or, for that matter, discouraged youthful offenders from staying clear of drugs. Yet U.S. authorities view Mexico's new drug enforcement with skepticism. “Any country that embarks on policies that encourage drug use will get more drug use and more addiction,” said Tom Riley, spokesman form the White House Office of Drug Control Policy. Riley can't point to any data indicating that current U.S. drug enforcement policy, reduces drug use, addiction or trafficking.

      U.S. authorities see public demand as the cause of the U.S. drug problem. Unlike Mexico, the White House prefers to pick on teenagers and small users, rather than confront infinitely more transnational interdiction problems. “Many countries, including the U.S. and Mexico, see the drug problem as a trafficking problems,” said Riley. “But the real problem isn't trafficking, it's drug use. The costs of drug addiction are staggering,” echoing common fallacies and inconsistencies in the government's position on drug enforcement. Drug addiction represents a microscopic fraction of the costs involved in the U.S. drug war. Contrary to government propaganda, most recreational drug users are not drug addicts. Mexico realized that the biggest cost involves prosecuting and incarcerating minor drug users, not the alleged crimes and treatments for addiction and drug abuse.

      Chronic cocaine or marijuana use presents no long-term health or legal problems for recreational drug users. Most recreational drug users don't commit crimes, other than illegal drug purchases, to maintain their vice. With or without tough drug laws, drug abuse and addiction represents a relatively stable problem across populations. Government officials, like Riley, insist that addiction rates are correlated with accessibility, including permissive drug laws. There's no reliable evidence indicating that drug addiction and abuse are linked with lax drug laws. Like alcohol abuse, the incidence remains constant regardless of the availability. Instead of blasting Mexican efforts to deal with its drug problems, the U.S. should take an honest inventory of current drug control policies. There's nothing wrong with changing a failed paradigm that costs taxpayers precious resources.

      Before the White House points fingers at Mexico, it should take a good, hard look at its own failed drug policy. Throwing the book at recreational drug users has not reduced drug abuse or changed the incidence of addiction in the “normal “population. With over 60% of the U.S. prison population doing time for non-violent drug-related offenses, it's high time to revaluate current U.S. policy favoring punishment over education and rehabilitation. U.S. authorities must accept the similarity between drug and alcohol abuse, instead of branding drug users depraved criminals. Ending Prohibition didn't dramatically change the incidence of alcoholism, nor will amending Mexico's drug laws automatically increase abuse and addiction. While there's nothing wrong with going after drug traffickers, there's something very wrong with throwing the book at recreational drug users.

About The Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary at analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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