At least for now, the recreational use of marijuana is legal in the states of Washington and Colorado, bringing to 17 the number of states that have adoped medical marijuana programs.
The success of these ballot measures last week vindicates the efforts to bring the issue to public debate by U.S. Rep.-elect Robert "Beto" O'Rourke of El Paso, and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, a 2012 presidential candidate.
A similar measure in Oregon failed Nov. 6, but the fact that 17 states and Washington, D.C., have eased laws on marijuana means more states could go the way of Washington and Colorado in the future.
Several states have decriminalized, stopping short of full legalization, the possession of small amounts of
marijuana. In Nebraska, for example, the penalty for possessing less than an ounce of marijuana for a first offense is an infraction and up to a $300 fine.
"This is a reflection that our well-intentioned drug control policy is not working," said O'Rourke, who often caught criticism by law enforcement advocates for his views on marijuana. "Despite $1 trillion spent over the last 40 years, despite imprisoning more of our population than any country on the face of the planet, despite tens of thousands of deaths in Mexico over the last five years, we are not succeeding in keeping marijuana out of our schools and keeping the profits away from transnational criminal organizations."
O'Rourke, a former City Council member and recently
elected congressman, also said that "as the father of three children, and as someone who wants to avoid more death and terrorism in Mexico, I think the federal government should begin a discussion about how we move past this failed policy and begin to look at the alternatives that will do a better job of keeping drugs out of our schools and cut billions of dollars of funding from the cartels."
The U.S. Department of Justice issued a short statement in response to questions on how the federal
government plans to respond to the new marijuana laws in Washington and Colorado:
"The Department's enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act remains unchanged," according to DOJ's statement. "In enacting the Controlled Substances Act, Congress determined that marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance. We are reviewing the ballot initiatives and have no additional comment at this time."
Citizens Against the Legalization of Marijuana (CALM) based in California is opposed to the new state laws.
"We affirm the 2006 (FDA) finding and vast scientific evidence that marijuana causes harm," CALM said on its website. "The normalization, expanded use, and increased availability of marijuana in our communities are detrimental
to our youth, to public health, and to the safety of our society."
Johnson, who ran for president as a member of the Libertarian Party, was a Republican when he served as New Mexico's governor twice, from 1995 to 2003. Back then, he advocated decriminalizing marijuana in New Mexico, but his proposal did not get far.
On his presidential campaign website, Johnson said "marijuana is our nation's No.1 cash crop despite the prohibition; it will always be available to those who really wish to use it."
Johnson also said that legalizing marijuana "would instantly and dramatically improve conditions on our southern border. Marijuana is Mexico's No. 1 illegal export; legalizing it would result in dramatically reducing the power and wealth of the drug lords, and instantly helping to restore stability in a nation whose stability and sustainability is truly vital to our economic and national security interests. If we truly wish to reduce border violence, take the profit out of it."
Later this month, Mexico's President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto is scheduled to meet with President Barack Obama, and the topic of marijuana-legalization in Colorado and Washington is expected to come up.
Drug-smuggling at the border has been a source of friction in U.S.-Mexico relations for decades, and in recent years unprecedented levels of drug violence in Mexico has been a concern for both nations.
Currently in Mexico, it is not against the law for individuals to possess small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. It is illegal to produce and traffic these drugs.
According to the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMC), marijuana legalization in the U.S. states could reduce the profits of Mexican drug cartels by more than $2 billion.
"(Legalization) would pose the most important structural shock to drug-trafficking in a generation, since the massive arrival of cocaine in the late eighties," the IMC said in is 47-page report titled "If Our Neighbors Legalize."
"The Sinaloa drug cartel would be the most affected, it could lose up to 50 percent of its income. The Caballeros Templarios (Knights Templar cartel), would also be affected, and the rest would also see moderate losses," the report said.
The Mexican states that would be most affected if all or any of the three U.S. states vote to legalize marijuana are Chihuahua, Durango and Sinaloa, and possibly Michoacan, Guerrero and Oaxaca.
Drug kingpin Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman is the current leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel, which waged a brutal four-year war against rivals of the Carrillo Fuentes (Juarez) drug cartel that left more than 11,000 people dead.
Other experts in the past have alleged that Mexico's economy depends heavily on the drug trade.
Fernando Alvarez, a math consultant and community activist in Juarez, said he agrees that legalization would have an economic impact on Mexico. "Unfortunately, many people who are struggling with poverty turn to the drug trade for employment, as farmers, farm laborers, transporters and smugglers," Alvarez said. "The Mexican government needs to invest in industries that will create new jobs for these people."
Five years after Johnson ended his governorship, New Mexico enacted its first medical marijuana program, which some consider to be a step toward legalization. New Mexico's Medical Cannabis Program, which began in 2007, had 8,059 active participants as of Oct. 31, according to the state Department of Health.
"The program is accomplishing its goals," said Kenny Vigil, spokesman for the state health department in Santa Fe. "The department is committed to ensuring that the needs of qualified patients are met, while also administering the program in a way that is sustainable and that ensures that the program is capable of being regulated."
The top qualifying condition to participate in the program is post traumatic stress disorder (PSTD), with 3,350 patients claiming this as their medical reason, followed by 2,287 patients who claimed chronic pain, and 564 patients who have cancer. Recently, the state fended off a challenge against allowing PSTD for medical marijuana.
The state's four counties with the highest number of patients are in Bernalillo County (2,925), Santa Fe County (1,143), Sandoval County (578) and Dona Ana County (533).
Besides Dona Ana, other Southern New Mexico counties also have medical marijuana patients, Luna (51), Otero (131) and Sierra (142).
Vigil said that in New Mexico, a licensed nonprofit producer can possess no more than 150 plants, and a qualified patient who holds a personal production license can possess no more than four plants and 12 seedlings.
"Qualified patients can also possess no more than six ounces of useable cannabis and a three-month supply of topical treatment," Vigil said. "The program in New Mexico is regarded as a model for the rest of the nation."
New Mexico officials said the program has avoided any problems with federal authorities by limiting the number of plants produced, and exerting tight controls to avoid drug violations.
Copyright 2012 - El Paso Times, Texas
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
