MEXICO AND ARGENTINA MOVE TOWARDS DECRIMINALISING DRUGS

In A Backlash Against The US 'War On Drugs', Latin America Turns To A
More Liberal Policy

Argentina and Mexico have taken significant steps towards
decriminalising drugs amid a growing Latin American backlash against
the US-sponsored "war on drugs".

Argentina's supreme court has ruled it unconstitutional to punish
people for using marijuana for personal consumption, an eagerly
awaited judgment that gave the government the green light to push for
further liberalisation.

It followed Mexico's decision to stop prosecuting people for
possession of relatively small quantities of marijuana, cocaine,
heroin and other drugs. Instead, they will be referred to clinics and
treated as patients, not criminals.

Brazil and Ecuador are also considering partial decriminalisation as
part of a regional swing away from a decades-old policy of crackdowns
still favoured by Washington.

"The tide is clearly turning. The 'war on drugs' strategy has failed,"
Fernando Henrique Cardoso, a former Brazilian president, told the
Guardian. Earlier this year, he and two former presidents of Colombia
and Mexico published a landmark report calling for a new departure.

"The report of the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy
has certainly helped to open up the debate about more humane and
efficient policies. But, most of all, the facts are speaking by
themselves," said Cardoso.

Reform campaigners have long argued that criminalisation enriched drug
cartels, fuelled savage turf wars, corrupted state institutions and
filled prisons with addicts who presented no real threat to society.

The US used its considerable influence to keep Latin America and the
UN wedded to hardline policies which kept the focus on interdictions
and jail sentences for consumers as well as dealers. The "war" was
first declared by the Nixon administration.

The economic and social cost, plus European moves towards
liberalisation, have emboldened some Latin American states to try new
approaches.

Argentina's supreme court, presented with a case about youths arrested
with a few joints, ruled last week that such behaviour did not violate
the constitution. "Each adult is free to make lifestyle decisions
without the intervention of the state," it said.

The government, which favours decriminalisation, is expected to amend
laws in light of the ruling. The court stressed, however, that it was
not approving complete decriminalisation, a move that would be
fiercely resisted by the Catholic church and other groups.

The previous week the government of Mexico, which has endured horrific
drug-related violence, made it no longer an offence to possess 0.5g of
cocaine (the equivalent of about four lines), 5g of marijuana (about
four joints), 50mg of heroin and 40mg of methamphetamine.

Three years ago, Mexico backtracked on similar legislation after the
initiative triggered howls of outrage in the US and predictions that
Cancun and other resorts would become world centres of narcotics tourism.

Now, however, the authorities quietly say they need to free up
resources and jail space for a military-led war on the drug cartels,
even while publicly justifying that offensive to the Mexican public
with the slogan "to stop the drugs reaching your children". They also
argue corrupt police officers will be deterred from extorting money
from drug users.

Washington did not protest against the announcement, which was kept
deliberately low key. "They made no fanfare so as not to arouse the
ire of the US," said Walter McKay, of the Mexico City-based Institute
for Security and Democracy. "I predict that when the US sees its
nightmare has not come true and that there is no narco-tourist boom it
will come under more pressure to legalise or decriminalise."

Some US states have decriminalised the possession of small amounts of
marijuana and the Obama administration has emphasised public health
solutions to drug abuse, giving Latin America more breathing room,
said Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch, director of the Global Drug Policy
Programme. "My hope is that Latin America will be the next region,
after most of Europe, where evidence and science will be the basis for
policy-making."

Argentina and Mexico's moves may encourage other governments to follow
suit. A new law has been mooted in Ecuador, where President Rafael
Correa last year pardoned 1,500 "mules" who had been sentenced to
jail. His late father was a convicted mule.

Brazil's supreme court, as well as elements in Congress and the
justice ministry, favour decriminalising possession of small
quantities of drugs, said Maria Lucia Karam, a former judge who has
joined the advocacy group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.

She welcomed the moves towards decriminalisation but said repression
remained a cornerstone of drug policy. "Unfortunately the 'war on
drugs' mentality is still the dominant policy approach in Latin
America. The only way to reduce violence in Mexico, Brazil or anywhere
else is to legalise the production, supply and consumption of all drugs."