Mexican president calls marijuana a gateway drug, opposes legalization measures

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Cartel murders in Mexico.

In a recent interview with a German magazine, Mexican President Peña Nieto says that marijuana is a gateway drug and that he opposes the legalization both in his country and in America.


In the past few months, Nieto’s administration has come out against legalization efforts in Washington and Colorado – saying that such changes undermine the efforts to stop the illegal marijuana trade from Mexico into the U.S.

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto

Apparently nobody has told Nieto that most smokers prefer nice homegrown to imported brick schwag any day of the week and that by allowing American’s to grow their own cannabis it would put a dent in demand for seeded brown frown from south of the border.
Drug battles on the border have spilled over into Mexico with some estimating that as many as 60,000 people have been killed in the ensuing wake. But instead of eliminating the cause of the crime (marijuana prohibition), Nieto says that they must first address the rampant poverty in his country that makes drug dealing so attractive. Nieto says he has launched a “crusade against hunger” in response to all of the killings.
Neito also told the magazine that they will be beefing up police and military presence in the country. Never mind entire police departments of some Mexican towns have quit out of fear of being slaughtered by drug cartels.
Possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine and other drugs were decriminalized in 2009 under previous president Felipe Calderon. At the time, the policy shift was lauded as a step in ending corruption at the local level.
For more, check out the the entire interview over at Spiegel online.

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