Washington’s Marijuana Vote Creates Stir in Latin America!

Imagine the citizens of our little state causing a big issue with leaders in Central and South America!

The governments of Honduras, Costa Rica, Belize and Mexico have called for a re-evaluation of their own marijuana enforcement laws after Colorado and Washington legalized recreational marijuana use.

They called for the Organization of American States to study the effects of legalization in the two U.S. states where the drug was approved. They also called for the United Nations General Assembly to hold a special session on drug prohibition no later than 2015.

According to Fox News, the U.S. vote has created questions about these nations' own drug policies:

Last week, the most influential adviser to Mexico's president-elect, who takes office Dec. 1, questioned how the country will enforce a ban on growing and smuggling a drug that is now legal under some U.S. state laws. The Obama administration has yet to make clear how strongly it will enforce a federal ban on marijuana that is not affected by the Colorado and Washington votes.

These leaders do make a very valid point. Mexico in particular has seen tens of thousands of its own citizens killed over the last few years since the beginning of a military-style government campaign against drug cartels, including those who grow and deal in marijuana. Now that two U.S. states have legalized the drug there could be more to follow in coming elections. Central and South American leaders are left pondering the validity of their own drug wars on marijuana.