Mexico's ex-president admits that the war on drugs was «unwinnable».»

At the height of Mexico’s war against the cartels, its chief architect privately admitted that it was «impossible to win» and that drug legalization was the only way out, a learned VICE News.

Felipe Calderón, the former president of Mexico, made this confession in private to the then-British Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, in 2011. Until 2018, however, Calderón had been a staunch defender of the militarized war on drugs.

«Calderón had made a name for himself in Mexican politics as »I will win the war on drugs,«» said Clegg, now a senior public relations executive at Facebook and also a representative of the Global Commission on Drug Policy.

«He said to me, «Do you think there will ever be a regulated sale of drugs in Britain or America? »Because I’ve come to this conclusion»—and I remember he said it with great emotion—»that we’ve spent years trying to wage this war on drugs that’s impossible to win. You’ll never win unless you eliminate crime by moving toward drug regulation.”.

Mexico has gone to great lengths in its war on drugs and cartels. The military has been deployed throughout the country to attack the cartels, a policy that has resulted in more than 275,000 deaths among cartel members and civilians since 2007. More than 73,000 people are also still missing, and 39,000 unidentified bodies are in morgues across the country.

In a statement released this week to VICE News, Calderón did not deny that the conversation had taken place, but asserted that he had never said the war on drugs was impossible to win. He stated that he had long discussed the possibility of legalization as a solution to the problems associated with drug-related violence, but that he had never been convinced of its merits.

Calderon's successor embraced a different vision, driven by a 2018 Supreme Court ruling which ended the ban on cannabis. Mexican adults are now permitted to possess, consume, and cultivate cannabis for personal use, and the country is tentatively exploring the implementation of cannabis regulations alongside the health crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.