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Mexico ready to debate legalisation as drug war claims 28,000 lives: President says he is open to hearing pros and cons of making marijuana legal despite being personally opposed to the idea

It looks like the consequences of drug prohibition -- in this case needless deaths and assorted violence -- are making Mexico react in a more logical way. Mexico's president, Felipe Calderón, said today he would consider a debate on legalising drugs, as his government announced that more than 28,000 people have been killed in prohibition violence since he launched a crackdown against cartels in December 2006.

Mexican Government Raises Figure For Drug War Deaths For Second Time In Four Months

Drug prohibition is responsible for a lot more deaths than drugs. Now, the Mexican government is reporting that 28,000 people have been killed since President Felipe Calderón initiated an offensive against the country’s drug cartels three years ago. The announcement, made by Mexico’s intelligence service director Guillermo Valdés, marks the second time in four months that the government has increased its estimate of the number of violent deaths caused by prohibition violence.

Marijuana Initiative: "Just Say Now"

Backers of a new initiative to end the federal prohibition on marijuana made the case that a "silenced majority" of Americans are "beginning to rise up" to express their support for ending what they say has been a failed war on marijuana. The organizations -- Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, and FireDogLake -- are circulating a petition online and on college campuses asking President Obama to end the federal ban on using the drug.

US Law Enforcement Group Urges President Obama to Join Mexican President Calderon in Debate on Legalizing Marijuana (Press Release)

Contact: Tom Angell – 202-557-4979 or [email protected]

Trevor FitzGibbon - 202-406-0646

US Law Enforcement Group Urges President Obama to Join Mexican President Calderon in Debate on Legalizing Marijuana

Responding to out-of-control violence related to the illegal drug trade, Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Tuesday said that he is open to a debate on the legalization of marijuana and other drugs. Calling the increasingly widespread public discussion of legalization “a fundamental debate,” Calderon said, “You have to analyze carefully the pros and cons and the key arguments on both sides.”

In response to President Calderon’s call for a debate on drug legalization, Norm Stamper, a 34-year veteran police officer who was Seattle’s chief of police and is now a speaker with the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) and an adviser to the Just Say Now campaign, called on President Obama to join the debate on legalizing marijuana:

     “President Calderon’s call for a debate on legalization is a big step forward in putting an end to the war raging in Mexico and along our borders. More than 28,000 people have been killed by Mexico’s drug cartels since 2006 – including 1,200 in July, the deadliest month yet in this drug war.

     “Legalizing marijuana is the most sensible approach to stopping this border war. Cartels thrive on marijuana prohibition. Around 70% of the cartels’ profits come from the illegal sale of marijuana, which they turn around to buy guns that have killed thousands of Mexicans and that terrorize police on America’s streets.

     “Just Say Now welcomes President Calderon to this debate. We hope that President Obama will join this debate to end the war on marijuana.”

Previously, Mexico’s ambassador to the United States, Arturo Sarukhan, said that, “Those that suggest that some of these [legalization] measures need to be looked at understand the dynamics of the drug trade” and that the idea “needs to be taken seriously” by officials on “both sides of the border: both in producing, in trafficking, and in consumption countries."

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