This week, voters in California rejected Proposition 19, which would have legalized the production, sale and use of small quantities of marijuana by people 21 or older.
Opposition to the proposal had come from many corners, including the Mexican and Colombian government. How, the presidents of both countries argued, could they send peasant farmers in their countries to jail for growing a crop they could legally sell in California? And how could the United States, which has spent hundreds of billions of dollars on its 40-year War on Drugs, even consider legalizing the drug it has battled so vigorously?
That logic is flawed, contend Erika de la Garza, the Baker Institute Latin American Initiative program director, and William Martin, the Harry and Hazel Chavanne Senior Fellow in Religion and Public Policy. Martin also oversees the institute’s Drug Policy Program.
In a commentary in today’s Houston Chronicle titled “Time for Latin American to Reconsider Prohibition,” both scholars urge Latin American policymakers to reconsider their opposition to efforts to decriminalize marijuana. They write:
“Instead of reprimanding the U.S. and Californians for Prop 19 – as they did at the Tuxtla Summit – Latin American heads of state should embrace and promote open debates about drug policy among decision-makers, law-enforcement officials, health care professionals, and the general public. A drug-free America, South or North, is a fantasy, Zero Tolerance a destructive delusion.”
What do you think?