So much for Mexico loosening drug criminalization

[thewayne]

Fox did not sign the drug bill.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060504/ts_nm/mexico_drugs_dc


I sent a comment to a friend of mine whom I went to highschool with, he is in the process of becoming a naturalized Mexican citizen. The subject was "It looks like someone got a call in the middle of the night from Washington." This is his reply:

"And that is why so many want a Socialist government which won't be cowed by Washington. In reality, this was political posturing designed to scare the crap out of the US (it seems to have worked) and to create an atmosphere of informal relaxing of drug laws in Mexico. It is silly to throw every person who has ten grams of weed into prison at state expense. That's for the US which can afford that kind of window dressing in election years. "Oh look! We're getting tough!" Americans lap up that crap because they have lost the ability to think.

The big scare story yesterday apparently was "drug tourism" where Americans could cross the border and get stoned. The US media got it wrong again. The bill specifically pertained to Mexican citizens. Americans would still be put through the meat grinder of Mexican justice just so they will go home and say how tough other countries are. That's why Canada harasses Americans at the airports! They want complaints directed to the US State Dept. to let them know that Canada is 'being tough:. On my last trip there they pulled me aside because I look like an American, but when they saw I was traveling with Mexican ID, they told me to go on and put the next guy through the strip search. Interesting. Props out to mi raza!

Another part of the email commented about an NPR story regarding a Hummer owner's club in Phoenix, the organizer runs his on biodiesel.
The Hummer is truly ridiculous and I love to hear the owners whine. Meanwhile, all indications show that the US economy is in bad shape because everything depends on the price of energy. Meanwhile, oil nations are making a fortune off the US.

The is no single solution. The solution will come in many forms such as high mileage cars, the use of alternate fuels, biodiesel, fuel cells to convert ethanol directly into electricity and simply not using as much of the stuff. China will be lifting its price controls on fuel soon and that will relax energy tensions a bit but let's not blame China. The US has exported a lot of jobs and entire industries to China so energy which was used here is now being used there. Much of this is a shift rather than new energy consumption.

I heard from a friend in Norway who cancelled a trip to Germany because petrol there is the equivalent of 9$/gallon. My parents' nazi neighbour who took his SUV back to Germany must be crying about now. When I last filled up I paid 6,2 pesos per litre so I guess that works out to be about $2.20/g. There is an element of gouging from Pemex but apparently nothing like the oil company gouging going on in the US.

Oh, and to come full circle, this week's Economist has a story about how the US got it so wrong by denying the medical potential of marijuana. It's a fascinating article. Maybe if Fearless Leader would go back to doing lines of coke off a stripper's ass, the world would be a safer place. :-D


He sent me a heck of a reasoned email about why he is becoming a Mexican citizen. If there's any interest, I'll post that.

Comments

[apostate-96.livejournal.com]

I can see his point about the "tough on drugs" legislation requiring money to make happen, which not every country has. It basically comes down to picking the priorities for how to use the resources available. Our current probation officers run into the same thing, with not always having the time available to bust every probationer or parolee for every minor violation. Hell, that's part of why cops don't arrest everyone who's committing a crime....like speeding or running a red light. I'm also not surprised they'd want to have different policies for their own citizens and Americans, given the kinds of political (and other) pressure put upon them.

I'd be curious to see the letter from your friend about becoming a Mexican citizen. There are some things about how they work their country I really respect, but I'd also be curious to see how he addresses some of the serious problems that exist there, too.

[deborak]

I probably have zero common ground with your friend, but I do respect that he got his ass out of my country, vs the tons of people who scream about leaving and never do. ;-)