Mexico Decriminalizes Small-Scale Drug Possession and So Should We

Very interesting.

Mexico decriminalized small amounts of marijuana, cocaine and heroin on Friday — a move that prosecutors say makes sense even in the midst of the government's grueling battle against drug traffickers.

Prosecutors said the new law sets clear limits that keep Mexico's corruption-prone police from shaking down casual users and offers addicts free treatment to keep growing domestic drug use in check.

"This is not legalization, this is regulating the issue and giving citizens greater legal certainty," said Bernardo Espino del Castillo of the attorney general's office.

I think this is smart for a number of reasons. First of all, the amount you are allowed to have is quite small.

The maximum amount of marijuana for "personal use" under the new law is 5 grams — the equivalent of about four joints. The limit is a half gram for cocaine, the equivalent of about 4 "lines." For other drugs, the limits are 50 milligrams of heroin, 40 milligrams for methamphetamine and 0.015 milligrams for LSD.

Anyone caught with drug amounts under the new personal-use limit will be encouraged to seek treatment, and for those caught a third time treatment is mandatory.

It seems counterintuitive at first that to help fix a drug problem one should decriminalize the drugs, but decriminalizing lets it be regulated and controlled. If government-approved drug distributors are established, the drugs can be monitored for safety. Also, as this bill does, you can set a limit for how much drugs one is allowed to possess at one time. In addition, better drug treatment programs can be established based off the revenue from placing a "sin tax" on the drugs.

The best reason, however, is that it separates the casual users from the distributors and violent traffickers.

Mexico has emphasized the need to differentiate drug addicts and casual users from the violent traffickers whose turf battles have contributed to the deaths of more than 11,000 people since President Felipe Calderon took office in late 2006.

Mexico is in the midst of a (relatively futile) war on drugs. This bill separates the real bad guys from the casual users/addicts. Also, it should take business away from the drug traffickers.


I think the real value of this bill is what we Americans can possibly learn from its results. I think passing a similar bill in the U.S. makes sense. Drug use will happen whether it is decriminalized or not, so it makes sense to decriminalize drugs in small amounts and regulate it.

Probably the biggest reason to enact it here, however, is that our prisons are currently full of people charged with drug offenses. Many of these are for minor offenses.

According to the American Corrections Association, the average daily cost per state prison inmate per day in the US is $67.55. State prisons held 253,300 inmates for drug offenses in 2005. That means states spent approximately $17,110,415 per day to imprison drug offenders, or $6,245,301,475 per year.

We waste so much money holding people in jail for drug offenses. A lot of people are casual users who represent a valuable part of society and the labor/consumer force. We have prisons packed nationwide and an ailing economy. Maybe this should be part of the stimulus package?

Don't expect this to be enacted in the U.S. anytime soon, however. While the percentage of people supportive of decriminalizing marijuana is on the rise, it is still too controversial of an issue. However, it will come one day, and when it does, look forward to posters like this one:

Have a nice day!