Peter Tosh would be proud

November 4, 2015 2:47 PM

In a 4-to-1 decision, the Mexican Supreme Court has ruled that recreational marijuana use is legal, an enormous change in policy that will impact the drug war, our relations to the US, and pretty much everything about the path our country has been on for decades.
posted by Cobalt (25 comments total)

Clarification from the linked article:

The vote by the court’s criminal chamber declared that individuals should have the right to grow and distribute marijuana for their personal use. The ruling is a first step — applying only to a single cannabis club that brought the suit — and does not strike down Mexico’s current drug laws. But it lays the groundwork for a wave of legal actions that could ultimately legalize marijuana.

A first step, but a very significant first step.
posted by filthy light thief at 2:53 PM on November 4, 2015 [6 favorites]

That isn’t an overstatement. Wow.
posted by Going To Maine at 2:53 PM on November 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

… This certainly adds some interesting fire to the Democratic debates on Friday.
posted by Going To Maine at 2:56 PM on November 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

Maybe the War on Drugs will wrap up quickly and there'll still be time to send George H. W. Bush to the Hague.
posted by bonobothegreat at 2:57 PM on November 4, 2015 [25 favorites]

Also, Mexican cartels have diversified (warning: horrifying speculation on cartel practices) to the point that drug trafficking isn't a major source of income anymore. This will help, but it might not bring about as much change as one might hope.
posted by filthy light thief at 3:00 PM on November 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

Up here in Canada, we're probably going to legalize it.
posted by sebastienbailard at 3:02 PM on November 4, 2015 [3 favorites]

Up here in Canada, we're probably going to legalize it.

Honestly though, if you had told me 15 years ago that Canada was going to be the last out of the three to get there I would never have believed you
posted by Hoopo at 3:39 PM on November 4, 2015 [11 favorites]

Going To Maine: "… This certainly adds some interesting fire to the Democratic debates on Friday."

Not to mention smoke. See? Get it?
posted by Splunge at 3:44 PM on November 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

"Ear"
posted by clavdivs at 3:46 PM on November 4, 2015

… This certainly adds some interesting fire to the Democratic debates on Friday.

...there's going to be another Democratic debate??

Huh.

Anyone want to hang out at the bus station in Rock Hill, SC to see if you can get your "campaign" some stage time next to Hillary and Bernie?
posted by indubitable at 4:17 PM on November 4, 2015

Canada, Mexico...I'm hoping for "legalization sandwich".
posted by telstar at 5:02 PM on November 4, 2015 [2 favorites]

So, what's the path here? If growing becomes legal (and I know we're not there yet), and the price drops (and it may not) then the cartels do, what exactly? It looks like only about 17% of the revenue comes from pot (cocaine is more like 34%).
posted by leotrotsky at 5:04 PM on November 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

Legalize the rest and get rid of even more of their revenue.
posted by Justinian at 5:12 PM on November 4, 2015 [5 favorites]

Hoopo: "Honestly though, if you had told me 15 years ago that Canada was going to be the last out of the three to get there I would never have believed you"

Not actually federally legal in the US yet is it?
posted by Mitheral at 5:13 PM on November 4, 2015 [2 favorites]

I have seriously started researching homes in Colorado because of legalization. I have a medical condition which pot alleviates to some degree, where degrees are measured in comfort. I don't really want to live in Co, I mean it's gorgeous, but it's cold y'all. But damn, I would love to know that smoking a joint wouldn't mean I could lose kids, home, car, retirement funds, etc. (I love Oregon, but the cascadia fault makes me nervous.) It will be interesting to see how this plays out in Mexico, and if it's enough to push states that border it into rational drug policies.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 5:35 PM on November 4, 2015 [4 favorites]

SecretAgentSockpuppet, I don't think you're going to have to wait all that long for more U.S. states to join the roster, at least for values of "not that long" on the scale of election cycles. And medical is expanding at a much faster clip than recreational - a lazy googling says 23 states so far.

A bit more on the topic of Mexico and the bigger picture - it feels to me like the Drug War proper is easing up, but even a full-scale rollback of the whole process (which we are nowhere near, as far as I can tell) would leave us with decades (more?) of enduring damage.
posted by brennen at 6:13 PM on November 4, 2015

Not, to be clear on that "we", that I'm in Mexico. Just the general geopolitical "we".
posted by brennen at 6:29 PM on November 4, 2015

"As it stands, marijuana accounts for more than a fifth of revenues generated by cartels, around $1.5 billion a year, according to a 2010 report by the RAND Corporation."

Even that statistic is probably outdated, since the cartels have also been supplying the heroin boom which started hockey-sticking around that time.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 6:48 PM on November 4, 2015

If Sicario wins any Academy Awards, wonder if the recipient(s) will mention this development in their acceptance speech(es)?
posted by fuse theorem at 7:01 PM on November 4, 2015

I love Mexico, I love People from Mexico!, and to see the country take a step toward post-NAFTA self-determination is beyond heartening.
posted by Conrad-Casserole at 7:19 PM on November 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

Honestly though, if you had told me 15 years ago that Canada was going to be the last out of the three to get there I would never have believed you

Well, maybe any time before 15 years ago. In the wake of 9/11, I think the idea of undermining the U.S. position on drugs and the prison system, social controls, and the border security built around all of it, would have been like declaring war on 'Merica.
posted by bonobothegreat at 8:35 PM on November 4, 2015 [2 favorites]

Yeah, definitely, bonobo. Lots of things were opening up, being questioned at the turn of the century. Remember the WTO in Seattle? 9/11 clamped down on a lot of shit, and we're only recently regaining our senses.
posted by notyou at 9:55 PM on November 4, 2015

Conrad-Casserole: "I love Mexico, I love People from Mexico!"

Donald?
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 11:36 PM on November 4, 2015 [2 favorites]

.
posted by Rash at 11:13 PM on November 5, 2015

… This certainly adds some interesting fire to the Democratic debates on Friday.

Just to follow up on my last comment: no, it didn’t. But they were great anyway!
posted by Going To Maine at 12:35 PM on November 7, 2015