Mexican President wants to legalize medical cannabis

During the United Nations Special Session on Global Drug Policy, Mexican President Enrique Peña Neto stated that cannabis should be «legalized for scientific and medical reasons.» Mexico is already a step ahead in the decriminalization of various drugs, as Mexicans are allowed to possess up to 5 g of marijuana, 50 mg of cocaine, and 40 mg of methamphetamine.

For Enrique Peña Nieto, drugs pose a global public health problem. With the legalization of cannabis products, «the availability of controlled substances» would allow scientific and medical communities to better regulate consumption. He also points out that Mexico has paid a heavy price for the U.S. «War on Drugs» in terms of peace, suffering, and human lives. It is estimated that over the past ten years, 100,000 people have been murdered and 27,600 people are still missing.

«We must change what hasn't worked—the paradigm of the so-called «war on drugs» (...) which has never curbed drug production, trafficking, and, above all, global drug use.».

The president is not the only one leaning toward this solution. The presidents of Colombia and Guatemala—two countries also ravaged to the core by drug traffickers—agree with him. Colombia’s Juan Manuel Santos stated in an op-ed for The Guardian on the sidelines of the conference, «This is not a call for the legalization of drugs; it’s just that between legalization and all-out war, there are other options that have yet to be explored.».

The South American continent is choosing the path of a regulated drug laws to put an end to deadly internal violence and corruption, while North America views it as a business potential.

It remains to be seen which roadmap European leaders will choose.

Théo Caillart