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Mexico: Chihuahua Considers Legalizing Pot
Sonny Lopez Dallas Morning News (US TX)
Saturday 01 Jun 2002 Several Steps Needed Before Border State Could Change Law CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico - It's ironic that in this city, home to one of the world's most infamous drug cartels, marijuana could be legalized. But such a change is being considered. Marijuana has become so common throughout the border region - and efforts to curb its impact have had such little effect - that the administration of Chihuahua Gov. Patricio Martinez has launched a study of the consequences of legalizing marijuana. It remains unclear whether marijuana would be sanctioned only for personal use or as a medical treatment, or whether it would be allowed into the social fiber like alcohol. Moreover, the Mexican federal government would need to approve any legalization. "We're studying the issue of legalizing marijuana from addiction to economics and everything in between," said Fernando Medina, spokesman for Mr. Martinez in Juarez. "The governor has said that despite the countless offensives launched as part of the war against drugs, drug smuggling and drug use continue to grow. It's an issue we really need to study." The issue of legalizing marijuana, which set off demonstrations in favor of legalization as far away as Mexico City, was raised during an April meeting of the governors of Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Coahuila and Chihuahua, some of the states bordering the United States. The results of the study, which has not been clearly defined, are expected to be presented to the Commission of Border Governors and the Conference of Governors in June. A spokesman for the governor in Chihuahua City had no comment but released statements made by Mr. Martinez to a reporter from a newspaper in Mexico City. "We, the border governors, have asked different institutions to study the issue of legalizing drugs," Mr. Martinez said. "Until now, what's been done hasn't worked because the use of drugs continues to grow, despite the war that has been launched." The legalization effort has received the endorsement of Mexico Sen. Elias Moreno, president of the Commission on Health and Public Security; and Rep. Gregorio Urias, co-coordinator of Bancada del Sol Azteca, a banking industry trade group and a member of the Commission on Public Accounts and Loans. In addition, several groups have participated in the demonstrations and are lending their support to the effort. The groups include the Mexican Association for the Study of Cannabis; Multiforo Alicia, a coalition of area social organizations; and the faculty of philosophy and letters at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. The issue has yet to spawn any demonstrations in Juarez, which is across the Rio Grande from El Paso in Chihuahua and is that state's most populous city with about 1.5 million residents. It was home to late drug cartel kingpin Amado Carrillo Fuentes. Border with U.S. Chihuahua, Mexico's largest state, has a population of about 3 million and shares a border with the United States from near the Arizona-New Mexico state line on the west to the Big Bend area on the east. According to U.S. law enforcement agencies, the Juarez cartel smuggles millions of dollars in illegal drugs through Chihuahua and across the U.S.-Mexico border at Juarez. The drugs, marijuana among them, end up in cities from Los Angeles to New York. Officials from Mexico's federal police and the Chihuahua state police refused to comment on possible decriminalization, referring questions to the governor's office. Marijuana, allowed in some U.S. jurisdictions for medicinal use but otherwise illegal, is readily available along the U.S.-Mexico border. It's prevalence prompted New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson to seek its decriminalization. This year, New Mexico lawmakers rejected the Johnson-backed measures that would have legalized the medical use of marijuana, decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana, and provided for treatment instead of prison time for nonviolent first- and second-time drug offenders. Many of the state's law enforcement organizations opposed the governor's initiatives, arguing that they would make drug use more pervasive and difficult to control. U.S. border authorities have seen an increase in drug activity. In the first seven months of fiscal 2002, which began Oct. 1, U.S. Customs Service agents in the El Paso region seized 224,886 pounds of marijuana. By year's end, the haul is expected to surpass last year's total of 306,622, which would be a major leap from the 1990 total of 38,102 pounds. "We enforce U.S. law, so what another country does is not in our control," said Roger Maier, spokesman for the U.S. Customs Service in El Paso. "Legalizing marijuana would probably attract people to Juarez, but I'm not so sure legalization in any part of Mexico would necessarily impact our effort. The only problem I see is if it is decriminalized and there is no limit," Mr. Maier said. "Anyone could then stockpile it and create some issues when they try to smuggle it across to meet demands." DEA weighs in Osvaldo Amado, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman in El Paso, sees the situation differently. In fiscal year 2001, DEA agents seized 184,000 pounds of marijuana in the El Paso region. "If it [legalization] were to happen, the impact would be tremendous because it would put the whole burden on us. It would be very difficult for us," Mr. Amado said. "We just don't have the resources to deal with something like that." The burden also is heavy for Juarez police, who have lost the support and confidence of the city's residents because of allegations of police corruption and inaction. "We don't have any real control as it is now. I can just imagine what it would be like if it were legalized," said Officer Jose Luis Melendez, parked in his squad car in the Mariscal, the city's red light district. Officer Melendez pointed to groups of teenagers cruising the back alleys of the district. "They use it to barter for sex," he said as several youths huddled secretively outside a dark, nondescript bar, deeply inhaling marijuana. "At least now they get a little scared and scatter when I approach," Officer Melendez said. "But if they legalize it, who knows what's going to happen?"
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