With nine states already having legalized marijuana for recreational use and more states on the way this November, there’s talk Mexico could soon start talks to legalize it, too.
AFP reports that come December, former Supreme Court judge Olga Sanchez Cordero will be the Secretary of Interior, and has received blessings from Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to start discussions.
Rice University political science professor Mark Jones said legalizing marijuana might be more of a symbolic gesture that there's no real reason to continue to prohibit marijuana and making it a crime to consume.
“From the Mexican perspective, it’s the latest signal to the United States that much of our drug violence and cartel violence and the problems associated with it, are due to your consumption, not due to anything here in Mexico,” said Jones.
He said this sends a signal to the US that our prohibitionist policies are counterproductive.
Jones said the reality is that legalizing marijuana won't curtail much of the cartel violence or drug trafficking.
“Because the real money is in crystal meth, cocaine and heroin and fentanyl that are primarily exported to the United States, but also consumed in Mexico increasingly,” said Jones.
He said no matter who is legalizing marijuana, it's unlikely Texas will be one of them anytime soon.