News » Op Ed in Washington Post Says Prop 19 Would End Mexico’s Drug War





An opinion editorial by Hector Aguilar Camin and Jorge G. Castaneda in the Sunday, September 5 edition of the Washington Post outlines how the passage of Proposition 19 in California could effectively end the drug war in Mexico.

The two writers, both Mexican citizens, point out that the drug market in the U.S. is inextricably linked to that of Mexico’s. Meanwhile, newspaper polls have shown that 67% of Mexicans say drug war costs are unacceptable and 59% believe that the drug cartels are winning the war. More than 28,000 people have been killed since 2006 in Mexico over drugs and more than $10 billion has been spent fighting them.

They cite California as “almost the whole enchilada” when it comes to Mexican drug exports. With legalization in California, the authors say, most of Mexico’s current stance on marijuana exports and the drug war would become untenable and even contradictory. Three Mexican presidents, two past and the present office holder, have come out endorsing some kind of drug legalization or at least are open minded to the idea.

With the American White House Office of National Drug Control Policy stating (likely erroneously) that 60% of Mexico’s drug cartel income is from cannabis, it would be obvious that the legalization of marijuana would put a huge dent in these violent cartels’ incomes.

The opinion editorial is well written, thoughtful, and lays out a compelling outline showing not only why support for legalization in Mexico would probably become whole-hog were Prop 19 to pass in California, but how this may greatly reduce the power and income of the drug cartels profiting so heavily from marijuana’s prohibition.

Well worth reading.

[source Washington Post]

Tags: California, drug war, Mexico, Prop 19