| Photo: Marijuana.com |
| Former Mexico President Vicente Fox: “We’re talking about the last frontier of prohibition” |
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox, a onetime ally of the United States in the War On Drugs who now advocates legalization, said at Thursday news conference in San Diego that prohibiting drugs doesn’t work.
Fox, a member of the conservative National Action Party, or PAN, compared drug use to sexual orientation and a woman’s right to an abortion, reports Richard Marosi at the Los Angeles Times.
“We’re talking about the last frontier of prohibition,” Fox said. “Tell me something else that is prohibited today? Abortion is permitted. Marriage between same-sex [people]now is permitted … Smoking cigarettes is permitted; alcohol is permitted.”
Fox, who was in San Diego on a fund-raising trip for his presidential library, has become an outspoken proponent of drug legalization, joining other prominent Latin American leaders who agree that law enforcement efforts to stop drug consumption and distribution are futile.
Fox’s views on drug legalization caused Point Loma Nazarene University to cancel its invitation to have him speak at their San Diego campus earlier this year.
“Given some of our constituents we felt it necessary to weigh that in,” said Michele Corbett, marketing director for Point Loma Nazarene University, referring to their cancellation of his speech due to his views on drugs.
“We are a church-affiliated university and we take a strong stance against the use of drugs,” Corbett said, apparently believing it’s perfectly Christian to kill people in the name of the War On Drugs, but it would be just devilishly sinful to let them (oh, brothers and sisters, I can hardly bring myself to type these evil words) smoke a joint.
