Mexico to open landmark marijuana debate in January

Mexico will embark in January on a national debate on overhauling its marijuana laws, the government said Wednesday, weeks after the Supreme Court opened the door to legalizing pot.

The court's landmark ruling in November forced President Enrique Pena Nieto's administration and Congress to consider reforming marijuana laws in a country that has endured years of brutal drug violence.

While Pena Nieto reiterated his opposition to decriminalizing pot, he indicated that his government could be open to changing the laws depending on the outcome of the debate.

Pena Nieto said even his children have asked him, "'Hey dad, does this mean that we will soon be able to smoke a joint in front of you?' I replied, 'No, don't be confused. A debate has started.'"

"I am in favor of the debate so that experts on the topic can give us more clarity about where we should be heading: whether we should maintain the prohibitionist system or establish a regulation for certain uses of marijuana," Pena Nieto said in a speech.

The Supreme Court authorized a group of four people to grow and consume their own marijuana for recreational use, creating a potential precedent for others seeking similar permits.

The government will launch a website in the beginning of 2016 that will publish scientific and academic papers to provide information on the topic to the public, said Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong.

A series of public debates will begin in the third week of January with medical and legal experts as well as academics and members of civil society to discuss the "implications of marijuana use," he told a news conference.

"To be effective, we must consider the different alternatives as well as the costs, benefits and viability of each of them and their impact on the population," he said.

"Mexico will have to decide in the next months which policy it will need to face a phenomenon that affects different areas and aspects of the lives of millions of Mexicans."

Five debates will be held in different regions of the country between January and March.

They will focus on the health implications of pot; the potential regulations and their costs; the effect that decriminalizing marijuana could have on violence; and whether consuming it is a human right.

Supporters argue that decriminalizing marijuana would strip drug cartels of a major source of revenue and reduce violence that has killed tens of thousands of people.

"I cannot agree with the assumption that it will make it easier to combat organized crime," Pena Nieto said.
Source: AFP