Legaliazcion De Drogas En Mexico

Researched Position Paper
David Gagon
English 201-03


Drug Legalization

As a twenty two year-old guy who grew up in Mexico, I am very interested in the drug legalization debate. I am from Mexico City, a city which is famous for its size, population, entertainment and so on. To be honest I never heard anything about drug cartels in Mexico City; most of the problems in the city had to dowith delinquency such as thief acts, kidnappings, etc, but never problems with drug dealers. At age of 18 I was called to serve a LDS full-time mission in the states of Sinaloa and Baja California South; these both states located in the northwest part of Mexico. The state of Sinaloa has always been known as a state where drug dealers grow up marijuana and different kinds of drugs. In additionmany drug cartels live in this state. As a consequence of these facts the state of Sinaloa, especially its capital Culiacan, has become a pretty dangerous place where violence and corruption abounds in the city and its surroundings. Citizens live feeling completely unsecure and unfortunately many innocent people have lost their lives just for having been at the wrong time and place.
One day, whenI was serving in Culiacan, my companion and I were on our way to a family’s house where we were going to have launch. Close to our destination, while we were going up a hill we saw a bunch of police officers which were patrolling the neighborhood; we continued walking when within a minute, suddenly, we heard some gun shots coming from one or two blocks from where we were. We ran until we were ableto get to the house where we were going to eat. The sister opened the door for us. She was completely scared and glad at the same time that we were fine. While we were eating we heard gun shots for about 30 minutes, a helicopter, the army and patrols approaching to where the shooting had occurred. We found out later, that a drug cartel shot at the patrols when they were patrolling theneighborhood at about two in the afternoon. The situation got worse later on; the army had to take control of the city in order to control violence and protect the citizens.
All these problems are the consequence of the illegal drug distribution and the many drug cartels that abound in the state of Sinaloa. These kinds of problems have happened around the world where whether drug distribution is allowed ornot. The public has always shown considerable interest and curiosity about drugs and medicines. Drug is defined as a “substance used in the diagnosis, treatment, or prevention of disease or as a component of a medication.” Also it can be defined as a “chemical substance, such as a narcotic that affects the central nervous system, causing changes in behavior and often addiction” (The AmericanHeritage Dictionary 2009, online). The Lord revealed through a modern prophet the way we should use all types of plants and herbs on earth. He said:
And again, verily I say unto you, all wholesome herbs God hath ordained for the constitution, nature, and use of man— Every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof; all these to be used with prudence and thanksgiving. (D&C89: 10-11)
One of the most common harmful drugs used is marijuana. Marijuana refers to the “dried leaves and flowers of the cannabis plant, which contains the non-narcotic chemical THC at various potencies. It is smoked or eaten to produce the feeling of being ‘high’. The different strains of this herb produce different sensual effects, ranging from a sedative to a stimulant. Marijuana has manymedical purposes also. The cannabis extract was available as a medicine legally in this country until 1937, and was sold as a nerve tonic, but mankind has been using cannabis medicines much longer than that. Marijuana appears in almost every known book of medicine written by ancient scholars and wise men. It is usually ranked among the top medicines, called 'panaceas', a word which means...