Mexico and Argentina move towards decriminalising drugs In a backlash against the US 'war on drugs', Latin America turns to a more liberal policy Comments (11)   Rory Carroll in Caracas, Jo Tuckman in Mexico and Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro guardian.co.uk, Monday 31 August 2009 14.07 BST Article history
Argentina and Mexico have taken significant steps towards decriminalising drugs amid a growing Latin American backlash against the US-sponsored "war on drugs".Argentina's supreme court has ruled it unconstitutional to punish people for using marijuana for personal consumption, an eagerly awaited judgment that gave the government the green light to push for further liberalisation.It followed Mexico's decision to stop prosecuting people for possession of relatively small quantities of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs. Instead, they will be referred to clinics and treated as patients, not criminals.Brazil and Ecuador are also considering partial decriminalisation as part of a regional swing away from a decades-old policy of crackdowns still favoured by Washington."The tide is clearly turning. The 'war on drugs' strategy has failed," Fernando Henrique Cardoso, a former Brazilian president, told the Guardian. Earlier this year, he and two former presidents of Colombia and Mexico published a landmark report calling for a new departure."The report of the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy has certainly helped to open up the debate about more humane and efficient policies. But, most of all, the facts are speaking by themselves," said Cardoso.Reform campaigners have long argued that criminalisation enriched drug cartels, fuelled savage turf wars, corrupted state institutions and filled prisons with addicts who presented no real threat to society.The US used its considerable influence to keep Latin America and the UN wedded to hardline policies which kept the focus on interdictions and jail sentences for consumers as well as dealers. The "war" was first declared by the Nixon administration.The economic and social cost, plus European moves towards liberalisation, have emboldened some Latin American states to try new approaches.Argentina's supreme court, presented with a case about youths arrested with a few joints, ruled last week that such behaviour did not violate the constitution. "Each adult is free to make lifestyle decisions without the intervention of the state," it said.The government, which favours decriminalisation, is expected to amend laws in light of the ruling. The court stressed, however, that it was not approving complete decriminalisation, a move that would be fiercely resisted by the Catholic church and other groups.The previous week the government of Mexico, which has endured horrific drug-related violence, made it no longer an offence to possess 0.5g of cocaine (the equivalent of about four lines), 5g of marijuana (about four joints), 50mg of heroin and 40mg of methamphetamine.Three years ago, Mexico backtracked on similar legislation after the initiative triggered howls of outrage in the US and predictions that Cancún and other resorts would become…

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  From The Times of London
May 18, 2009 Barack Obama attempts to ward off disastrous military air strike on ‘nuclear’ Tehran (EPA/RON SACHS / POOL) President Obama's meeting in the Oval Office with Israeli Prime Minster Binyamin Netanyahu comes amid fundamental differences on their approach to the Middle East
Tim Reid in Washington
President Obama will seek today to persuade the hawkish Israeli Prime Minister that the White House’s recent overtures to Iran should be given time to work and that an Israeli military strike against Tehran could trigger disaster. Mr Obama’s meeting in the Oval Office with Binyamin Netanyahu comes amid fundamental differences on their approach to the Middle East and mixed signals over whether the Israeli Prime Minister could endorse the idea of a sovereign Palestinian state — a cornerstone of US policy in the region. Mr Netanyahu, who unlike his predecessors has refused to back the idea of an independent Palestinian state, arrived in Washington as his Defence Minister suggested that he may be prepared to endorse a peace process leading to such an outcome. “I think and believe that Netanyahu will tell Obama this Government is prepared to go for a political process that will result in two peoples living side by side,” said Ehud Barak. A former Israeli Prime Minister and long-time rival of Mr Netanyahu, he has been a supporter of a “two-state solution” and is part of the current Prime Minister’s governing coalition. Related Links Iran, not Palestine, tops Israel’s agenda Netanyahu's balancing act with Obama CIA head's mission to stop Israel bombing Iran Multimedia BLOG: Obameter - tracking Obama's campaign promises Yet no sooner had Mr Barak spoken than Ofir Akunis, a confidant of Mr Netanyahu and a member of his conservative Likud party, said that the Israeli leader would refuse to back a Palestinian state. Yisrael Katz, the Israeli Transport Minister, also said that Mr Netanyau would “oppose any creation of an armed Palestinian state on Israel’s borders, which would endanger Israel’s security”. It is uncertain how much consensus Mr Obama and Mr Netanyahu will be able to reach, either on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or on Iran. Mr Obama sees a two-state solution as vital to Middle East peace, and a key factor in the push to persuade Iran to abandon its nuclear weapons programme. The US President will also argue today that Israel must stop building new settlements in the West Bank. Mr Netanyahu does not believe that the Palestinians are ready to govern themselves, not least because they are fundamentally split. President Abbas’s increasingly shaky hold on power runs only in the West Bank. The rival Hamas militants control Gaza. Mr Netanyahu says that he is ready to negotiate with Mr Abbas. He also says that he is ready to open up border crossings and invest in the Palestinian economy but has stopped short of endorsing…