Mexico now is beginning to think that its efforts to halt the transport of marijuana from Mexico into the US is a waste of time. Today, the President-elect of Mexico, Enrique Pena Nieto stated that the successful legalization in Washington and Colorado “will force the Mexican government to rethink its efforts at trying to halt marijuana smuggling across the Southwest border.”
Mexico had earlier considered legalizing drugs to a limited degree, but interference from the Bush administration stopped that effort. Some politicians became nearly hysterical over the matter with San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders stating that “I view this as a hostile action by a longtime ally of the U.S.”
If the legalization effort does indeed lead to a partial de-escalation in the drug war, then we will be able to say that the people of Colorado and Washington did a great service not only for themselves, but for the people of Mexico as well. Expect the U.S. government to fight this with every last cent of your heard-earned dollars, however.
2:40 pm on November 8, 2012
