I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
Conservative former Mexican president Vicente Fox has joined calls for broad drug legalization, arguing Sunday that “radical prohibition” has failed and that legalization would undermine the power of criminal cartels, reducing gang violence and the corruption of Mexico’s political system.
Fox had previously advocated only the legalization of marijuana.
During his 2000-2006 presidency, Fox instituted an aggressive police war on cartel leaders. The resulting instabilities in cartel power structures triggered unprecedented violence in cities like Juarez, some analysts believe.
While estimates vary, cartel violence has killed at least 25,000 people since 2006, mostly in northern Mexico.
Fox’s comments are the latest in a growing chorus of calls for legalization from politicians in Latin America.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon said earlier this year he is opposed to legalization.
The government could tax drug sales to fund public health-based drug control efforts, Fox said.
Mexico decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana, methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine in 2009. However, the drugs continue to be supplied primarily by street dealers and criminal cartels.
Former Republican New Mexico governor Gary Johnson has called for legalization of marijuana.
