Legalization of recreational marijuana in Washington and Colorado leads Mexico to reconsider its anti-drug policies
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“The legalization of marijuana forces us to think very hard about our strategy to combat criminal organizations, mainly because the largest consumer in the world has liberalized its laws,” said Manlio Fabio Beltrones, leader of Peña Nieto’s party in Mexico’s Congress.Peña Nieto’s top adviser, Luis Vidagaray, said Thursday that his boss did not believe that legalization was the answer. But Vidagaray said Mexico’s drug strategies must be reviewed in light of the legalization votes.“Obviously we can’t handle a product that is illegal in Mexico, trying to stop its transfer to the United States, when in the United States, at least in part of the United States, it now has a different status,” Videgaray told a radio station Wednesday.“I think more and more Mexicans will respond in a similar fashion, as we ask ourselves why are Mexican troops up in the mountains of Sinaloa and Guerrero and Durango looking for marijuana, and why are we searching for tunnels, patrolling the borders, when once this product reaches Colorado it becomes legal,” said Jorge Castaneda, former foreign minister in Mexico and an advocate for what he calls an end to this “absurd war.”
Mexico says marijuana legalization in U.S. could change anti-drug strategies - The Washington Post