Ex-Mexico President Says Legalize And Save Lives.

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US: U.S. Should Legalize Drugs to Curb Violence, Fox Says

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URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v11/n283/a07.html

Newshawk: Kirk

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Webpage: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7549084.html

Pubdate: Wed, 04 May 2011

Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)

Copyright: 2011 Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst Newspaper

Contact:male2('viewpoints','chron.com'); viewpoints@chron.com

Website: http://www.chron.com/

Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/198

Author: Jenalia Moreno, Houston Chronicle

Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/legalize+drugs

 

<P class=clipping>U.S. SHOULD LEGALIZE DRUGS TO CURB VIOLENCE, FOX SAYS

 

Ex-President of Mexico Also Calls on America to Scrap the Fence

 

Vicente Fox, a former president of Mexico, waves to the crowd as he and his wife, Marta Sahagun, arrive at a venue on the University of Houston where he was to deliver a speech on "Leadership and Spirituality in America."

 

Former Mexican President Vicente Fox said in Houston on Tuesday that the United States should legalize drugs to end the violence in Mexico.

 

During a speech at the University of Houston, Fox noted that Mexico is located between drug-producing nations in South America and the world's largest drug-consuming nation, the United States.

 

"We just happen to be in between," Fox said.

 

In the last few years, drug cartel violence has tarnished Mexico's image -- hurting tourism and foreign direct investment, he said.

 

"We're paying a huge price," Fox told the audience of mostly students, who applauded his suggestion that the United States decriminalize drug consumption to reduce violence -- as occurred when the U.S. repealed alcohol Prohibition in the 1930s.

 

He also called on the United States to tear down the fence it built along part of its border with Mexico to reduce illegal immigration.

 

"Instead of building walls, we should be building bridges," said Fox, who spoke to several Houston groups during his Tuesday visit.

 

The 2000 election of Fox, a member of the National Action Party, ended the 71-year rule of the Institutional Revolutionary Party.

 

Democracy began to take hold in Latin America in the 1980s and 1990s and that's helped the region's economy and reduced poverty, he said.

 

"Latin America for the first time has enjoyed the best 10 years that we have ever had," he said. "I really hope we can stay on path."

 

Venezuela and Cuba are the only nations in the region that are not part of that democratic wave, said Fox, who spoke to several groups in Houston on Tuesday.

 

He said Venezuela's leader, Hugo Chavez, is hurting the oil-rich South American nation's economy and future. "He's destroying Venezuela. He's wasting all of the oil."

MAP posted-by: Richard Lake