| | |  Editorials | Opinions | August 2009 
Mexico Goes to Pot, and then Some
 Investors Business Daily
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August 22, 2009
Mexico surprised everyone this week by "decriminalizing" drugs for "personal use" to refocus its resources. This may sound good to some, but it's waving a white flag at drug cartels that will now take advantage.
President Felipe Calderon's signing off on a law to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana, LSD, methamphetamines, cocaine and heroin for consumers was justified as a move to differentiate low-level addicts from powerful traffickers and direct enforcement resources to the latter. It may appeal to some who think legalization will end Mexico's violence, but it's more likely to undermine Mexico's fight against cartels.
The move will probably strengthen them, something that will prolong the war and weaken the will of the civilians in the middle to give up. If that happens, Mexico's small war will become a big one.
There are reasons why legalization won't work: Bitter historic experiences, like that of Alaska, Zurich and Amsterdam, which effectively legalized drugs for small users, all ended in a reversal of course. All found that consumption grows and addicts multiply.
After that, the state gets the near-futile task of treatment at high cost. Mexico's new law says all addicts shall be treated free of cost, but right now it has just 100 clinics and won't be able to deliver.
Meanwhile, new customers mean new cash for already powerful cartels. To these organized crime groups, it means money to buy guns or to bribe officials. All of this lowers their cost of doing business, and raises it for the state to fight them.
They'll grow more powerful - not less.
But aside from that, the white flag truly throws away the sacrifices courageous Mexicans have already made, in blood and treasure, to crush these lawless organizations. Mexico has put up a tremendous and courageous fight against the cartels, suffering 600 military and police casualties since 2006. Mexicans can't be blamed for wondering what they're fighting for if others can use drugs in front of their faces as they fight. Morale will plummet.
It's true that Mexico is weary, having lost 11,000 citizens to a war they still haven't won. What's more, drug legalization has become a trend in some countries in Latin America, making Mexico wonder if it's on the wrong side of history.
Prominent officials, like former presidents Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico and Cesar Gaviria of Colombia have declared the drug war unwinnable and called for legalization of marijuana. Think tanks financed by distant billionaire George Soros have worked to make the idea of decriminalization trendy among the smart set.
Mexican officials tell the Associated Press that since the drug user law isn't enforced, it makes no sense to keep it on the books.
Maybe so, but de facto decriminalization coincides with Mexican drug addiction rates skyrocketing 30% over the past five years, to 4.5 million addicts. Lack of enforcement coincides with the rise of cartels' power in Mexico, too. De facto legalization should be seen as a warning bell for what will happen with actual legalization - and what could be ahead for Mexico soon.
Mexican officials also justify this move as redirecting law enforcement resources away from small-time addicts to big cartels - but with cash from users fueling the cartels, there's no real savings.
As for the legalization trend in Latin America, it's occurring in nations with little will to fight cartels. The worst of them, such as Venezuela and Ecuador, have leaders with ties to drug traffickers like Colombia's FARC, which controls 60% of Colombia's cocaine trade.
Others, such as Argentina and Bolivia, still see the drug war as a gringo war and are indifferent to their own responsibilities even as crime and addiction grow.
But as they fail, leaders who are effective at winning drug wars, like Colombia, seem to be strengthening their resolve.
Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe has crushed Colombia's traffickers and dealt hard blows to Marxist narcoterrorists - all from a position that looked hopeless. Unlike less successful leaders, he's moving harder against legalization because he knows he can win.
Mexico has mobilized tens of thousands of troops, and lost some 1,000 of them to traffickers. And now it makes drug use legal.
In the past, it has scolded the U.S. for its consumer drug appetite, but will now fuel its own. It empowers cartels with cash streams and then tries to fight them after they've been empowered. All of this goes against all we know about winning drug wars. |
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