| Photo: Vivirlatino |
| Mexico President Felipe Calderon: Marijuana legalization would mean a “terrible inconsistency” in U.S. drug policy |
The president of Mexico has given his two pesos’ worth in the debate over whether Californians should legalize marijuana at the polls next month.
President Felipe Calderon told the Associated Press in an interview Thursday that he was concerned about what legalizing cannabis in California would do to the larger Drug War. Calderon told AP that legalization would mean a “terrible inconsistency” in U.S. drug policy, reports The Los Angeles Times.
Calderon’s statements are a little puzzling in view of the fact that in August, he said he is open to a debate on the legalization of marijuana and other drugs.
At that time, Calderon called the increasingly widespread public discussion of legalization in Mexico “a fundamental debate.”
“You have to analyze carefully the pros and cons of the argument on both sides,” Calderon said in August.
Before that statement, however, Calderon had long maintained he is opposed to the idea of legalization. The Mexican president’s office issued a second statement, hours after the first one in August, saying that while Calderon was “open to debate on the issue,” he remained “against the legalization of drugs.”
The Mexican leader said Thursday that he doesn’t know if recent security gains in Tijuana have affected the flow of drugs across the border of Mexico and the United States.
Proposition 19, on the November ballot, gives Californians the chance to vote on whether or not adult marijuana use should be legal in California.
The measure would make it legal for anyone 21 or older to possess, share or transport up to an ounce of marijuana for personal use and grow up to 25 square feet per residence or parcel.
Cities and counties would be authorized to regulate and tax commercial marijuana production and sales.
