Mexico marijuana decriminalisation will help the poor ‘supplier’ nations

The greater absurdity of prohibition in Mexico is how much it has cost the country, and how little has been gained

A woman smokes marijuana during a rally in front of the Supreme Court of Justice in Mexico City (AFP/Getty)

An absurd status quo has held sway in Mexico, ever since the United States began to legalise marijuana, for medical, and, more recently, recreational use. The nation – encouraged by Washington – has some of the strictest drug laws in Latin America.

But the vast majority of the marijuana it produces ends up in the US. So Mexican law enforcement officials – complying with the demands of their American counterparts – have been expending massive resources on preventing the growth and trafficking of a drug that is often, by the time it ends up being smoked within US borders, entirely legal.

This state of affairs may not last much longer. The ripple-effects of legalisation in Colorado and Denver have spread south, and this week the Mexican Supreme Court issued a ruling – small in practice, momentous in its symbolism – that seems likely to lead to effective decriminalisation. Four activists will be allowed to grow their own marijuana, for personal consumption, setting a precedent that invites further legal challenge to the entirety of Mexico’s laws on marijuana.

And the greater absurdity of prohibition in Mexico is how much it has cost the country, and how little has been gained. Billions have been spent, the cartels remain brutally dominant, and Mexico’s political system is as corrupt as ever.

Decriminalising marijuana may not pose much trouble to the likes of Los Zetas, a particularly bloodthirsty drug gang, as they can shift focus to other revenue streams. But it would be a start. The true costs of the drug war have for too long been outsourced to poor, producer nations, such as Mexico. Now that America – which began the war – is considering alternative approaches, it is to be hoped that more dominoes start falling in the countries that feed its population’s insatiable desire for a high.