Well, there goes prohibition south of the border

[Telarus]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iP1GlMCOzYSi8kbAUY1lLDdqc4vAD9A70MDO0

Mexico decriminalizes small-scale drug possession

By MARK STEVENSON (AP) – 50 minutes ago

MEXICO CITY — Mexico enacted a controversial law Thursday decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs while encouraging free government treatment for drug dependency.

The law sets out maximum "personal use" amounts for drugs, also including LSD and methamphetamine. People detained with those quantities will no longer face criminal prosecution when the law goes into effect Friday.

Anyone caught with drug amounts under the personal-use limit will be encouraged to seek treatment, and for those caught a third time treatment is mandatory — although the law does not specify penalties for noncompliance.

Mexican authorities said the change just recognized the long-standing practice here of not prosecuting people caught with small amounts of drugs that they could reasonably claim were for personal use, while setting rules and limits.

Under previous law, possession of any amount of drugs was punishable by stiff jail sentences, but there was leeway for addicts caught with smaller amounts. In practice, nobody was prosecuted and sentenced to jail for small-time possession, said Bernardo Espino del Castillo, the coordinator of state offices for the attorney general's office.

"We couldn't charge somebody who was in possession of a dose of a drug, there was no way ... because the person would claim they were an addict," he added.

"This person obviously couldn't be charged, not yesterday, not the day before, not a year ago, but the bad thing was that it was left up to the discretion of the detective, and it could open the door to corruption or extortion."

In the past, police sometimes hauled suspects to police stations and demanded bribes, threatening long jail sentences if people did not pay.

"This is not legalization, this is regulating the issue and giving citizens greater legal certainty ... for a practice that was already in place," Espino del Castillo said.

In 2006, the U.S. government publicly criticized a similar bill. Then President Vicente Fox sent that law — which did not have a mandatory treatment provision — back to Congress for reconsideration.

The maximum amount of marijuana considered to be for "personal use" under the new law is 5 grams — the equivalent of about four joints. The limit is a half gram for cocaine, the equivalent of about 4 "lines." For other drugs, the limits are 50 milligrams of heroin, 40 milligrams for methamphetamine and 0.015 milligrams for LSD.

The law was approved by Congress before it recessed in late April, and President Felipe Calderon, who is leading a major offensive against drug cartels, waited most of the summer before enacting it.

Calderon's original proposal would have required first-time detainees to complete treatment or face jail time. But the lower house of Congress, where Calderon's party was short of a majority, weakened the bill.

Mexico has emphasized the need to differentiate drug addicts and casual users from the violent traffickers whose turf battles have contributed to the deaths of more than 11,000 people during Calderon's term. In the face of growing domestic drug use, Mexico has increased its focus on prevention and drug treatment.

Sen. Pablo Gomez of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party praised the legislation: "This law achieves the decriminalization of drugs, and in exchange offers government recovery treatment for addicts."

Previously, possession of any amount of drugs was punishable by stiff jail sentences, with some leeway for those considered addicts and caught with smaller amounts. But in practice, relatively few people were prosecuted and sentenced to jail for small-time possession.

While the United States openly expressed concern about the 2006 law, this time around it has been more circumspect.

Asked about the new law in July, U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske said he would adopt a "wait-and-see attitude."

"If the sanction becomes completely nonexistent I think that would be a concern, but I actually didn't read quite that level of de facto (decriminalization) in the law," said Kerlikowske, who heads the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy.

[Captain Utopia]

Seems like something entirely almost non-newsworthy - codifying existing practice into law - but it's already being misreported and exaggerated:
hxxp://www.pro8news.com/news/local/53891192.html

[Cain]

I wonder what the cartels actually think of this.

On one hand, drug prohibition means increased prices....on the other, drug culture has so fully taken hold in parts of Mexico now, denying the reality of the situation on the ground there is foolish.

[Jenne]

I like the bit about cutting out the extortion and bribery of the corrupt asses that run the police over there.  And this has got to be bad news for the cartels, but they are making a killing, quite literally, over in Guatemala from what I hear, so they're already going for "higher ground" it seems.

[Reginald Ret]

One of the downsides of this is that the reduction in unenforcable laws will cause an increase in trust in government.

[Telarus]

:BUMP:

And now this:

http://blog.drugpolicy.org/2009/08/argentine-supreme-court-prison-time-for.html

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Argentine Court: Prison Time for Marijuana Possession Unconstitutional

Argentina's Supreme Court ruled today that imprisoning people for possessing small amounts of marijuana is unconstitutional. The seven judges rule unanimously, stating:

    "Each individual adult is responsible for making decisions freely about their desired lifestyle without state interference. Private conduct is allowed unless it constitutes a real danger or causes damage to property or the rights of others."

The ruling follows Mexico's decision to decriminalize drug possession for personal use less than a week earlier.

After the ruling, Argentina's Cabinet Chief Anibal Fernandez celebrated the end of "the repressive politics invented by the Nixon administration."

I'm looking forward to seeing how Argentina's drug laws change in the wake of this ruling. It's heartening to see another country denouncing the imposition of U.S. drug war policies on the rest of the world.


Posted by Maureen Brookes @ 4:48 PM

More Sauce: http://www.buenosairesherald.com/BreakingNews/View/10082

[Requia ☣]

:BUMP:

And now this:

http://blog.drugpolicy.org/2009/08/argentine-supreme-court-prison-time-for.html

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Argentine Court: Prison Time for Marijuana Possession Unconstitutional

Argentina's Supreme Court ruled today that imprisoning people for possessing small amounts of marijuana is unconstitutional. The seven judges rule unanimously, stating:

    "Each individual adult is responsible for making decisions freely about their desired lifestyle without state interference. Private conduct is allowed unless it constitutes a real danger or causes damage to property or the rights of others."

The ruling follows Mexico's decision to decriminalize drug possession for personal use less than a week earlier.

After the ruling, Argentina's Cabinet Chief Anibal Fernandez celebrated the end of "the repressive politics invented by the Nixon administration."

I'm looking forward to seeing how Argentina's drug laws change in the wake of this ruling. It's heartening to see another country denouncing the imposition of U.S. drug war policies on the rest of the world.


Posted by Maureen Brookes @ 4:48 PM

More Sauce: http://www.buenosairesherald.com/BreakingNews/View/10082

This is even more reason to go hiking in the Appalachians.

[Captain Utopia]

How long now?

[LMNO]

Damn, I need to go back to Buenos Aries.  That place was amazing.

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

:BUMP:

And now this:

http://blog.drugpolicy.org/2009/08/argentine-supreme-court-prison-time-for.html

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Argentine Court: Prison Time for Marijuana Possession Unconstitutional

Argentina's Supreme Court ruled today that imprisoning people for possessing small amounts of marijuana is unconstitutional. The seven judges rule unanimously, stating:

    "Each individual adult is responsible for making decisions freely about their desired lifestyle without state interference. Private conduct is allowed unless it constitutes a real danger or causes damage to property or the rights of others."

The ruling follows Mexico's decision to decriminalize drug possession for personal use less than a week earlier.

After the ruling, Argentina's Cabinet Chief Anibal Fernandez celebrated the end of "the repressive politics invented by the Nixon administration."

I'm looking forward to seeing how Argentina's drug laws change in the wake of this ruling. It's heartening to see another country denouncing the imposition of U.S. drug war policies on the rest of the world.


Posted by Maureen Brookes @ 4:48 PM

More Sauce: http://www.buenosairesherald.com/BreakingNews/View/10082

This is even more reason to go hiking in the Appalachians.

Comparable kine, though the one has better women.

[Pope Pixie Pickle]

How long now?

Ok, Now your shitlist rating has dropped.

[Triple Zero]

How long now?

Filter cigarettes? If they're ever gonna legalize marihuana for realz, I'd hope they are going to offer pre-rolled ones like cigars, that is, in many different flavours and qualities but still nearly always better than a filter cig.

- 000,
purist.

[Pope Pixie Pickle]

the pic was cool,

obviously anyone whose ever smoked a joint knows if ya don't use a roach it does nothing, trip.

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

the pic was cool,

obviously anyone whose ever smoked a joint knows if ya don't use a roach it does nothing, trip.

Nice stiff cardstock, cut thin and rolled into a little spiral... Hail St. Gulick.

[Brotep]

This thread is both more and less cool than what I expected.