XPost: aus.legal, misc.legal, talk.politics.drugs   
   XPost: uk.legal, uk.politics.drugs   
   From: reality@check.it   
      
   Argentina court ruling would allow personal use of pot   
      
     a.. NEW: Argentina court: It's unconstitutional to punish adult for   
   private use of marijuana   
      
     b.. Justice tells state-run news agency "reality" changed his mind   
      
     c.. Mexico enacted law that decriminalizes possessing low quantities of   
   most drugs   
      
   By Arthur Brice   
   CNN   
   (CNN) -- Argentina's Supreme Court ruled Tuesday it is unconstitutional to   
   punish an adult for private use of marijuana as long as it doesn't harm   
   anyone else.   
      
   The unanimous ruling makes Argentina the second Latin American country in   
   the past four days to allow personal use of a formerly illegal drug.   
      
   The case in question involved five young men who were arrested for having a   
   few marijuana cigarettes in their pockets.   
      
   Supreme Court Justice Carlos Fayt, who at one time supported laws that make   
   personal use of marijuana illegal, told the state-run Telam news agency that   
   "reality" changed his mind.   
      
   Argentina's action came amid growing momentum in Latin America toward   
   decriminalization of possessing small amounts of certain drugs.   
      
   Mexico enacted a law Friday that decriminalizes possessing low quantities of   
   most drugs, including marijuana, heroin, cocaine and LSD.   
      
   Earlier this year, a Brazilian appeals court ruled that possession of drugs   
   for personal use is not illegal.   
      
   Analysts see the shift in attitude as recognition that current methods in   
   the war on drugs are not working.   
      
   "It seems quite clear that drug policy based primarily on interdiction and   
   enforcement has failed," said Robert Pastor, a Latin America national   
   security adviser for President Jimmy Carter in the late 1970s. "Therefore,   
   it's natural for people to stand back and ask, 'Is there a better way?' "   
      
   Pastor noted that some recent research has shown that handling drug use as a   
   health challenge and focusing on treatment may be more efficient.   
      
   "What Argentina and Mexico are doing in many ways is blazing a new path,"   
   Pastor said.   
      
   Peter Hakim, president of the Inter-American Dialogue policy institute in   
   Washington, sees a trend at work.   
      
   "It's all part of a harm-reduction approach," Hakim said, noting that   
   policymakers are shifting away from getting rid of drugs and toward figuring   
   out how to reduce harm to users and society.   
      
   Mexico has been considering decriminalization for several years,   
   particularly under the administration of former President Vicente Fox, who   
   held office from 2000-2006. But efforts by the Mexican congress toward   
   decriminalization met with strong resistance from the administration of U.S.   
   President George W. Bush.   
      
   "Mexico tried it under Fox and the U.S. got so snippety that they had to   
   back down," Hakim said.   
      
   President Obama's inauguration in January may have changed the calculus,   
   analysts said. The Mexican congress passed the measure in April and   
   President Felipe Calderon quietly signed it into law.   
      
   In a visit to the United States, Fox said in May a new approach is needed.   
      
   "I believe it's time to open the debate over legalizing drugs," he told CNN.   
   "It must be done in conjunction with the United States, but it is time to   
   open the debate."   
      
   Earlier this year, Fox's predecessor and two other former leaders of Latin   
   American nations also called for the decriminalization of marijuana for   
   personal use and a change in strategy in the war on drugs.   
      
   The three ex-presidents were members of the 17-nation Latin American   
   Commission on Drugs and Democracy, which issued its recommendations in   
   February after studying the issue for a year.   
      
   "The problem is that current policies are based on prejudices and fears and   
   not on results," former Colombian President Cesar Gaviria said at a news   
   conference in which the commission's recommendations were presented.   
      
   Former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil said the group called   
   for only the decriminalization of marijuana and not other illicit drugs   
   because "you have to start somewhere."   
      
   Fox's predecessor, Ernesto Zedillo, was president of Mexico from 1994 to   
   2000. Gaviria was president of Colombia from 1990 to 1994. And Cardoso led   
   Brazil from 1995 to 2002.   
      
   In his swing through the United States, Fox said any change in drug laws   
   must be accompanied by an education campaign in schools and homes. And   
   because the United States is a large consumer of marijuana that comes from   
   Latin America, any steps toward legalization must be supported in   
   Washington, he said.   
      
   Gaviria had said in February that the time was right to start a debate on   
   the subject because of the new administration in Washington.   
      
   "In many states in the United States, as is the case in California, they   
   have begun to change federal policies with regard to tolerating marijuana   
   for therapeutic purposes. And in Washington there's some consensus that the   
   current policy is failing," Gaviria said.   
      
   The Inter-American Dialogue's Hakim said one recent poll showed that 29   
   percent of Americans think the best way to deal with marijuana is to   
   legalize it.   
      
   Pastor, the former Carter official, wondered whether anyone in Washington is   
   paying attention.   
      
   "The question," he said Tuesday, "is whether the United States will be open   
   to this new path."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)