|
|
Tweet
11/07/2012
AP, The Washington Post
MEXICO CITY — The main adviser to Mexico’s president-elect said Wednesday that votes legalizing recreational marijuana in the U.S. states of Washington and Colorado will force Mexico and the United States to rethink their efforts to halt marijuana smuggling across the border.
Luis Videgaray, head of incoming President Enrique Pena Nieto’s transition team, told Radio Formula that the Mexican administration taking power in three weeks remains opposed to drug legalization. But he said the votes in the two states complicate his country’s commitment to quashing the growing and smuggling of a plant [...]
Tweet
11/07/2012
By Steve Elliott / Take of the Town
What do our servants in the federal government do when the voters have spoken? They promptly announce their intention to ignore the voters. At least, that’s what happens when it comes to the marijuana laws.
The citizens of Colorado and Washington may have thought the decision was theirs on whether to legalize cannabis — that they’d have the final say in the matter. But a spokesperson for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has other ideas.
“The Drug Enforcement Administration’s enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act remains unchanged,” [...]
Tweet
11/07/2012
The men, sent to the gallows on Wednesday, were convicted of trafficking “hundreds of kilos” of narcotics, the statement said.
Iran, where murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking and adultery are punishable by death, is among countries with the highest annual record of executions in the world, along with China, Saudi Arabia and the United States.
Two weeks ago, an announcement by Iran that it had hanged 10 convicted drug traffickers prompted expressions of concern from the United Nations and the European Union (EU).
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she was “appalled” by the executions [...]
Tweet
Colorado, Washington Become First States to Legalize Recreational Marijuana
11/07/2012
By Christina Ng, Abby Phillips and Clayton Sandell / ABC
In a groundbreaking move, Colorado and Washington voters have passed referendums legalizing marijuana for recreational use. The drug is still banned under federal law.
Colorado’s Proposition 64 to the state’s constitution makes it legal for anyone over the age of 21 to possess marijuana and for businesses to sell it.
“The voters have spoken and we have to respect their will,” Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said in a statement. “This will be a complicated process, but we [...]
Tweet
US Marijuana Vote Unlikely to Impact Mexico in Short Term
11/07/2012
by Elyssa Pachico InSight Crime
The passing of marijuana legalization ballots in Washington and Colorado raises the question of whether these measures will hit the profits of Mexican drug trafficking organizations.
The two states became the first to legalize the recreational use of the drug in the United States. In Colorado, the ballot passed with 53 percent of the vote, with 47 percent against. In Washington, with 60 percent of the vote counted, the measure was passing with 55 percent to 44.
The measures legalize personal [...]
Tweet
11/06/2012
By Allison Linn, NBC News
Voters in Colorado and Washington on Tuesday approved measures allowing adults to use marijuana for any purpose, NBC News projected, marking an historic turning point in the slow-growing acceptance of marijuana usage.
In Massachusetts, voters also approved an initiative allowing people to use marijuana for medicinal purposes, NBC News projected. In Arkansas, a similar initiative failed, according to NBC News projections.
In all, voters in six states were being asked to decide on a wide array of laws around legalizing marijuana for medicinal or recreational purposes.
In three of those states – [...]
Tweet
11/06/2012
By Laura Krantz / Daily News
Opponents of a ballot question to legalize medical marijuana Tuesday night conceded they lost even as the proponents hesitated to announce their victory before more votes are counted.
The Vote No on Question 3 campaign said they struggled in an uphill battle against a $1 million campaign funded almost entirely by out-of-state marijuana advocates.
“It’s hard to get your message out when you’re one to a million,” said President Heidi Heilman.
She said some voters leaving the polls Tuesday dmitted they didn’t understand the question and regretted voting for [...]
Tweet
11/06/2012
The Seattle Times
At the election night party in Seattle for Initiative 502, the marijuana legalization measure, supporters were cautiously optimistic that the 2012 election would be marijuana’s moment.
Early vote counts in Colorado have Amendment 64, a measure similar to I-502, gave them reason for hope: With about a third of the vote counted, Amendment 64 was ahead 52 percent to 48 percent. And a medical marijuana law in Massachusetts was easily approved, by a nearly two-to-one margin.
It’s too early to call anything. But King County Executive Dow Constantine, who dropped by the I-502 party [...]
Tweet
11/06/2012
By MANUEL RUEDA / ABC-Univision
How many people have been enslaved by Mexico’s drug cartels and forced to work at gunpoint for these gangs?
At least 55,000 according to information compiled by Animal Politico, a Mexican news site which has just published a special report on forced labor in Mexico’s drug war.
The interactive report called Esclavos del Narco, or Narco Slaves, discusses how cartels force children to sell drugs in street corners and how Central American immigrants making their way to the U.S. face the stark choice of carrying drugs across the border or being murdered [...]
Tweet
10/28/2012
By John MacCormack / Express News
BATOPILAS, Mexico — By mid-afternoon Oct. 6, hundreds of local Tarahumara and mestizos crowded the downtown of this old silver mining town, enjoying free beer and bowls of a chile-laced beef stew under the immense ceiba trees.
From the ornate gazebo, “Banda Libertad,” a 14-man brass ensemble from Sinaloa, blasted out norteño favorites. Other bands kept the party going deep into the night, inspiring a local character named Toto to dance with his pet goat.
Earlier, Mayor Leonel Hernandez had given his annual address to an audience that included important federal [...]
|
|
