August 4, 2010 11:59AM 

# President of Mexico Calls for Debate on Legalization of Drugs 

By [Juan Carlos Hidalgo](https://www.cato.org/people/juan-carlos-hidalgo) 

---

<a class="js-popover-trigger cursor-pointer popover-trigger" data-bs-placement="bottom" data-bs-trigger="click" id="popover-trigger"> 

SHARE 

</a> 

For the first time ever, [Mexican President Felipe Calderón said yesterday that it was “fundamental” to have a debate on the legalization of drugs](http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gMi5B2USfJStXxfqgWWr2xjRYpOgD9HCE3380). Calderon, from the conservative National Action Party (PAN), had until now been reluctant to pay heed to the growing calls in Mexico and Latin America for a hemispheric debate on drug legalization. Once they left office, two of Calderón’s predecessors—Ernesto Zedillo and Vicente Fox—have also engaged in the debate, calling for the need to legalize drugs as a way to battle the drug violence that is crippling Mexico. Others, such as Jorge Castaneda, former foreign minister of Mexico, [have also called for an end to prohibition](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11746).

In today’s edition, *El Universal* newspaper in Mexico City [claims](http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/columnas/85230.html) \[in Spanish\] that Calderón’s turn around had something to do with a meeting he had a few days ago with Juan Manuel Santos, president-elect of Colombia. According to the newspaper’s sources, Santos told Calderón that drug trafficking is not under control in Colombian territory and that Mexico should be the country leading a public debate on legalization or decriminalization of drugs.

[As I’ve written before](https://www.cato.org/2009/08/17/drug-policy-debate-is-under-way-in-latin-america-what-about-the-u-s/), there is a growing consensus within Latin America about the failure of the war on drugs and the need to implement a sensible approach to drug policy. The question remains: [Is anyone in Washington paying attention](https://www.cato.org/2009/02/23/is-anyon-in-washington-listening/)?

##### Related Tags 

[Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Regulation](https://www.cato.org/regulatory-studies), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) 

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).