# So would Mexico solve its crime problems by legalising drugs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 10, 2010, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-would-mexico-solve-its-crime-problems-by-legalising-drugs/549769 "2010-08-10T00:03:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-would-mexico-solve-its-crime-problems-by-legalising-drugs/549769/21 "2010-08-10T17:08:49Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > > [@Sablicious](#): > > > > Most all Western, developed countries would solve their ‘drug problems’\* if drug use was legalized and, of course, strictly controlled. > > > > \ > > > > As far as Mexico is concerned, I doubt it would help there as it’s still a ‘developing country’ and the population is too prone to getting hooked on substances and becoming indolent as a result. > > I predict that this will not go well. Hey, maybe if they get indolent enough, they’ll stop coming over the border looking for work! :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-would-mexico-solve-its-crime-problems-by-legalising-drugs/549769/22 "2010-08-10T18:53:17Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > It’s not like the users would say “OK now that it’s legal I’ll only use a responsible amount of the drug.” > > Sure you solve some problems and create others. But it would be easier to take a responsible amount of the drug, if you regulate the dosage and labelling similar to that of alcohol. Right now, the dosages vary so widely that it is difficult to taper down even if you want to because you don’t know how strong any given street substance will be. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-would-mexico-solve-its-crime-problems-by-legalising-drugs/549769/23 "2010-08-10T19:21:38Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > I started a thread awhile back that kind of touched on this: > > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=557020&highlight=mexican+drug](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=557020&highlight=mexican+drug) The key difference is that the OP was asking about JUST Mexico legalizing drugs. To me its a no-brainer that if the US legalizes drugs Mexico’s problems (as in a drug war that is threatening the stability of the state itself) go away overnight (there will be still be crime and violence aplenty, but without an income that is 60% of the country’s GPD it becomes a law and order issue, not a national security one). But I am not so sure Mexico legalizing drugs would have the same affect. The illegal income is still there, you still need smuggling routes into the US, and still need to protect those routes from your competitors. Its just instead the drugs coming from Columbia, or illicit factories, they come from regular legal factories and retail outlets (which would find themselves in the frontline of a new drug war). And then what would the US have to say about it ? They wouldn’t be very happy from the get go, but when the drugs are coming direct from factories regulated and licensed by the Mexican government (and inevitably controlled to some degree by the cartels), that could go from “unhappy” to “clear and present danger”. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-would-mexico-solve-its-crime-problems-by-legalising-drugs/549769/24 "2010-08-10T19:45:50Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > It solves one set of problems but brings in another. There was a time when a lot of drugs were legal. Look through old copies of papers, and you will see tons of problems that heroin, cocaine and such caused before they were legal. > > Alcohol is legal. Does this mean it’s problem free. No, you would have all the problems alcoholics have now, but only with heroin addicts, coke addicts, meth addicts etc etc. > > It’s not like the users would say “OK now that it’s legal I’ll only use a responsible amount of the drug.” > > Sure you solve some problems and create others. I was talking with a co-worker a few days ago and he was relating stories of his childhood. His parents were ultra-liberal and told him that they’d prefer he come to them with requests for alcohol, drugs, contraceptives, etc. instead of finding them for himself and getting involved in the illicit side effects of these types of underground transactions. While it seems to have worked for him, he said he didn’t take them up on most of that offer(contraceptives being the exception), he felt it was the right way to do things and he would do the same if he had kids(he married a woman with children near his own age, older in one case, so it didn’t ever come up). I found myself reflecting on my own children and I can see some of them where that approach would work, and some who would totally destroy themselves if I were to supply their desires in these areas. Generalizing to the larger population, legalization, in Mexico or in the US, would lead to a different set of problems, not a lack of problems. People who are more susceptible to the disease of addiction would still get addicted(possibly in larger numbers due to greater availability) and the problems of addiction don’t go away easily. So I think I’m on the same page as **Markxxx**. Some people would be able to handle a world where easy access to drugs was common(like my co-worker), and some would destroy themselves(like my brother-in-law). It’s probably better that we don’t have legal drugs in the US. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-would-mexico-solve-its-crime-problems-by-legalising-drugs/549769/25 "2010-08-10T19:56:27Z")
> [@Mtgman](#): > > Generalizing to the larger population, legalization, in Mexico or in the US, would lead to a different set of problems, not a lack of problems. People who are more susceptible to the disease of addiction would still get addicted(possibly in larger numbers due to greater availability) and the problems of addiction don’t go away easily. So I think I’m on the same page as **Markxxx**. Some people would be able to handle a world where easy access to drugs was common(like my co-worker), and some would destroy themselves(like my brother-in-law). It’s probably better that we don’t have legal drugs in the US. How many people are now avoiding addiction only because of poor _availability_ of drugs? Is your brother-in-law really _not able_ to destroy himself presently, if so inclined? ---
**Author:** ![jaxbus4000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c89c15/32.png) [@jaxbus4000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaxbus4000)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-would-mexico-solve-its-crime-problems-by-legalising-drugs/549769/26 "2010-08-11T18:17:07Z")
Would not make a bit of difference if they legalized drugs in Mexico. As long as they are illegal in the states, the profit margine will be there. And in true Mexican form, the cartels would only become stronger and more dangerous. They already run the entire border, why would they give any territory up? ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-would-mexico-solve-its-crime-problems-by-legalising-drugs/549769/27 "2010-08-19T22:48:35Z")
It might help, but it won’t really solve the problem. Until the Mexican wealth gap is narrowed, there will always be too many people who are unable to afford the barest necessities through honest employment. It’s been my contention that even if drugs were legalized on both sides of the border–or better yet let’s just imagine they didn’t exist at all–then kidnapping and extortion would still be popular among the criminal element, as an alternative source of income. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-would-mexico-solve-its-crime-problems-by-legalising-drugs/549769/28 "2010-08-19T22:53:06Z")
> [@Grey](#): > > Would you accept [Cigarette smuggling](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigarette_smuggling)? Would you accept underage drinking? I agree that even legal, regulated commodities can be sold illicitly, but as a total piece of the crime pie these violations are very minor. ---
**Author:** ![Uber\_the\_Goober](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/58956e/32.png) [@Uber\_the\_Goober](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uber_the_Goober)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-would-mexico-solve-its-crime-problems-by-legalising-drugs/549769/29 "2010-08-19T23:16:12Z")
So responding to the Thread Title, and only the Thread Title: Yes. If it isn’t a crime to possess or use drugs, then the “illegal” aspect is gone. Not illegal, not a crime. So technically, it would decrease the amount of crimes committed. However, I ignored all the posts after the OP…so maybe my point is moot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-would-mexico-solve-its-crime-problems-by-legalising-drugs/549769.md?page=1)