美国国家公共电台 NPR Mexico Looks To Be Next To Legalize Marijuana

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Mexico, like many U.S. states, may soon legalize marijuana. The president-elect's leftist party, now a majority in Mexico's Congress, has introduced legislation allowing citizens to grow and sell marijuana. And so it becomes a test, a country facing a serious problem with organized drug gangs tries to curb¹ their activities by making one of their businesses legal. NPR's Carrie Kahn reports.

CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE²: Senator Olga Sanchez Cordero of the leftist Morena party told lawmakers that Mexico's decade-long war on drugs has killed 235,000 people and left 40,000 more disappeared.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

OLGA SANCHEZ CORDERO: (Speaking Spanish).

KAHN: "We don't want any more victims, no more mourning families, no more bloodshed," she said. Sanchez Cordero will be Mexico's interior minister once President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador takes office December 1. She says militarization and criminalization of the problem is not working.

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SANCHEZ CORDERO: Muchas gracias.

(APPLAUSE)

KAHN: The loud applause she received isn't a surprise given that her Morena party holds majorities in both houses of Congress. If passed, the new law will allow companies to grow and sell marijuana and let individuals cultivate plants for private use, up to 20 year. It's unclear, though, whether the incoming president is onboard. When asked at a recent press conference, Lopez Obrador would only say he respects lawmakers' right to give it a try.

(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)

PRES-ELECT ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR: (Speaking Spanish).

KAHN: "This is all part of democracy," says Lopez Obrador. "I respect Congress' initiatives," he said, while avoiding sharing his opinion. Mexico's Senate majority coordinator³ Ricardo Monreal says legalizing pot will reduce prison populations and stem crime. And he says it will bring needed revenue to the government, which will regulate all marijuana production and sales.

RICARDO MONREAL: (Speaking Spanish).

KAHN: "It's better to have it regulated than be underground," says Monreal. "Besides, he adds, these days marijuana is out in the open."

(SOUNDBITE OF BASKETBALL BOUNCING)

KAHN: A few young guys play basketball in the small park in downtown Mexico City. Others relax on benches and pass around joints⁵ and pipes.

EL CHINITO: (Speaking Spanish).

KAHN: (Speaking Spanish).

EL CHINITO: (Speaking Spanish).

KAHN: This 22-year-old man would only tell me his nickname, El Chinito, or Curly, since he's selling marijuana illegally in the park. He gets about $4 a joint⁴.

EL CHINITO: (Speaking Spanish).

KAHN: "I don't feel like marijuana is a bad vice⁶ - not like others, like alcohol, which makes you aggressive," he says. He says he'll be glad when it's legal. Then he won't have to pay the cops to let him sell in the park. One of the basketball players, 25-year-old Benjamin Lopez, says he doesn't want pot to be legal.

BENJAMIN LOPEZ: (Speaking Spanish).

KAHN: "I just worry about the young people growing up with drugs. It's not good for them," he says. Opponents to legalization, like Leonardo Garcia of the National Union of Parents, agrees and says legalization leads to addiction⁷. He says it's a lie that making pot legal will lower crime rates.

LEONARDO GARCIA: (Speaking Spanish).

KAHN: "In the end, crime will continue as always," he says. Senator Olga Sanchez Cordero disagrees. She says it's time to try something different to save Mexico from so much violence and poverty.

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SANCHEZ CORDERO: (Speaking Spanish).

KAHN: "We just want to live in a peaceful Mexico," she says. Morena party officials say they hope to have a bill on the new president's desk before the end of the year. Carrie Kahn, NPR News, Mexico City.