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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
AUGUST 7, 2009

Obama in No Position to Dismiss Any Solution to Mexican Drug Trade Violence, Even 'Legalization'

On Eve of President's Trip to Mexico, Marijuana Policy Reformers, World Leaders Want All Options Open

CONTACT: Dan Bernath, MPP assistant director of communications, 202-462-5747 ext. *2030

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Obama will travel to Mexico this weekend to confer with his Mexican and Canadian counterparts on the violence associated with the illegal drug trade that has killed 4,000 this year alone. However, if recent statements made by him and his drug czar are true, he's unlikely to address the solution a growing chorus of U.S. and Latin America leaders are calling for: removing marijuana from the illegal market.

     Earlier this year, the former presidents of Brazil, Columbia and Mexico called on the United States to decriminalize marijuana, which comprises an estimated 60 percent of Mexican drug cartels' business, as a way to curb U.S. demand for illicit drugs. Then, in April, Terry Goddard, attorney general for Arizona, where at least 5 tons of marijuana have been seized since October, called for a reevaluation of the war on drugs with all possibilities – including ending marijuana prohibition – to be on the table.

     Nevertheless, when asked in an online forum in March about the possibility of removing marijuana from the underground market and regulating the drug like alcohol, Obama laughingly dismissed the suggestion. And just last month, his drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske told reporters in Fresno that "[marijuana] legalization is not in the president's vocabulary, and it's not in mine."

     "Considering the devastating explosion of violence related to the illicit drug trade and the scars our policy of marijuana prohibition has left on the Mexican people, it's silly for President Obama to refuse to discuss any viable option, let alone one supported by leaders on both sides of our border," said Aaron Houston, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project. "Just as we did when we ended alcohol Prohibition, we could cut these violent cartels out of the market for their most lucrative product by regulating marijuana's production and sale here in the U.S., thus removing the financial motive that fuels the violence in the first place. But instead, the president appears devoted to making things worse by throwing more money, guns and bodies at the problem, despite clear evidence of our current policy's futility."

     With more than 27,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit http://MarijuanaPolicy.org.

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