Viva Mexico!

"Mexico decriminalized small amounts of marijuana, cocaine and heroin on Friday, in a move that creates one of the world's most permissive narcotics markets and that opponents say could complicate President Felipe Calderon's war against illegal drug cartels. ... Mexican prosecutors say the law will help the war on drug gangs by letting federal prosecutors focus their attention on major traffickers rather than small-time users, and by allowing state and municipal police to tackle local dealers. ... Still, Mexico's move could anger some allies in Washington. ... Mexico joins a growing list of countries in Europe and Latin America that are rethinking parts of the decades-long war on illicit drugs. ... Early this year, three former presidents of Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia blasted the drug war as a failure that threatened the stability of countries throughout Latin America and called for the decriminalization of marijuana. ... But rates of drug use have risen steadily, while corrupt Mexican cops have used the law to shake down casual users for hefty bribes", my emphasis, David Luhnow and Jose de Cordoba at the WSJ, 22 August 2009, link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125086054771949269.html.

I applaud Mexico's decision. The losers: corrupt Mexican cops and our DEA. We should follow Mexico. Among other things, our drug war is a foreign policy nightmare. Calderon's next move: repeal all Mexican drug laws! The Mexican prosecutors statement makes no sense. They could always have declined to prosecute possession cases.