According to today’s New York Times the Mexican government has “legalized” drug possession. Really? Perhaps someone at the NYT ought to inform Mexican President Felipe Calderon.
First of all, let’s explore the various connotations evoked by the word “legal.” After all, without proper context this term can mean many different things to many different people.
This Sunday on CBS’s Face the Nation, Mexican Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan was posed the question of whether legalizing marijuana would curb the surging violence associated with the trafficking of pot by Mexican drug gangs. Admirably, the ambassador did not answer with even the slightest hint of a chuckle.
Among the group’s proposals ahead of a special United Nations ministerial meeting in Vienna to evaluate global drug policy is a call to decriminalize the possession of cannabis for personal use.