Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

If drugs were legal, if officers weren't routinely confronted by thousands, ten of thousands, and hundreds of thousands in black market profits (in cash no less), John McAllister would still be a police officer. Instead, the former head of the Narcotics Unit of Mesquite PD is facing a federal charge for allegedly stealing what he thought was drug dealer cash in an FBI sting. The same Prohibition 2 that gave McAllister a livelihood, also gave him the opportunity to become a criminal himself.

Why did Officer McAllister start pocketing cash from drug busts? The same reason drug dealers go into the business. Assuming as economist do, that we are self interested rational actors, humans make the decision to commit or not commit an offense by weighing the benefits of crime against the probability of apprehension, and the possible punishment if convicted. Factor in other existing opportunities and a person's moral restraint/self control, and if the numbers work out, a crime is born.

Officer McAllister's moral compass wasn't enough to keep him from taxing drug dealers for his own benefit. And why not? The government steals (forfeits) from users and retailers all the time. Officer McAllister just forfeited some cash for his own personal use instead of sending it down the bureaucratic black hole.

McAllister was skimming the skim, not unlike the count room employees in Casino. Once you give the government the license to steal private property, it's not a huge stretch before the employees of said government feel entitled to take a little as well.

It doesn't have to be this way. You don't see cops robbing liquor stores or taking protection money from Pfizer. If you choose Prohibition 2, you are signing up to support police corruption. You can't be for one, and against the other.

Drug war police corruption is so rampant that StopTheDrugWar.org carries a weekly update to help you keep score.

McAllister is just the tip of the iceberg. Like drug users and dealers, most dirty cops are never caught. Remember the second half of the "should I commit this crime?" equation, the probability of apprehension. It's comically low for dirty cops.

First, we don't spend much time looking for them. The feds had to bust this Mesquite PD officer because Mesquite PD wasn't going to investigate one of their own. Second, cops never snitch on cops, even crooked ones. Finally, drug dealers and users who are robbed by police are never taken seriously.

If there is one book every prosecutor, LEO, and judge should have to read it is The Economics of Prohibition by Mark Thornton (available for FREE here). TEOP explains, with a precision and clarity that can only be found in economic theory, the set-your-watch-by-it predictability of Prohibition's horrible externalities. That is, what terrible things happens every time a government chooses to make popular recreational drugs illegal. (Spoiler alert- cartel violence, black markets, mass incarceration, corruption, inter alia). Today's dreadful consequence of prohibition is the "potency effect".

From the brilliant Mark Thornton via mises.org-http://mises.org/daily/4971

Economics provides the best explanation for the surge in popularity of meth despite the disproportionate danger of its use. Increased enforcement of drug laws, backed by increased penalties, led to higher prices and decreased availability of preferred recreational drugs such as marijuana and cocaine. High prices and periodic shortages led drug dealers and consumers to find substitutes -- ersatz goods that would produce similar results but at a lower cost.

The scourge of crystal meth is another example of the "potency effect" or what has been called the "iron law of prohibition." When government enacts a prohibition, increases enforcement, or increases penalties on a good such as alcohol or drugs, it inevitably results in substitution to more adulterated, more potent, and more dangerous drugs.

In the case of crystal meth, authorities have tried to restrict the supply of the basic ingredient, which is a common component in cold medications. They required that such medications be sold in pharmacies from behind the counter and limited to a one-month supply. More recently, some states have required that buyers be tracked electronically to prevent purchasing from multiple pharmacies.

In response, meth producers have recruited large numbers of intermediaries, including their friends, relatives, college students, and even children and the homeless. These recruits buy the cold medicine and can sell it to the labs for a 500 percent profit. A review by the Associated Press shows that thousands of people are being lured into this drug trade. "Law enforcement was surprised," St. Louis County Sgt. Tom Murley said. "People that normally wouldn't cross the line are willing to do so because they think it's such a sweet deal, and because of the economy."

Fortunately, in addition to answers and explanations, economics can show us the path away from this now decades-old trend -- the trend toward more potent and more dangerous drugs. After all, a certain portion of society will, regardless of legal restrictions and enforcement, choose to use drugs. So the solution is quite simple, really: end the drug war. Less enforcement and lower penalties would reduce the price of marijuana and shift demand from crystal meth back to marijuana, a drug that has few of the problems associated with meth.

When a meth lab operator (MLO) is apprehended, our criminal justice system puts all responsibility, punishment, and impetus to change behavior on the MLO and his smurf friends. During punishment the government stands up with a smug sense of bueracratic moral certainty and declares said MLO a scourge on society, solely responsible for his actions, and worthy of a lengthy sentence. The defense lawyer tries to rehab the client, and seek mercy on this individual for his choices. More often that not, MLO goes away for a few years or decades, taxpayers foot the bill, a new MLO takes his place, and the perpetual assembly line of drug arrests, prosecutions, and convictions continues unabated.

If the MLO is responsible for cooking the ice, shouldn't the DEA be accountable for creating the ice industry? I'd love to argue, but probably never will, that the MLO and his merry band of smurfs wouldn't be here if we had ended this drug war nonsense years ago, and let market forces provide the preferred substances in a regulated market environment. But for the government's drug war, crystal meth wouldn't have a market, or even have been invented in the first place.

Want to end smurfing, backyard meth labs, and the inane Sudafed registry at CVS? Regulate and tax the "preferred recreational drugs". Otherwise don't act surprised when a new potent drug comes down the crack/ice pipeline. It's not just "evil" dope cooks who deserve society's wrath, it's the failed policies that guarantee a future supply of dope cooks.

The system has eaten one of it's own. The Hammer got 3 to do, and 5 for 10. The same tuff on crime ethos that Tom championed for years has finally bitten him in the ass. Here's newly minted felon, Tom DeLay, on crime.

From OnTheIssues.Org

Voted NO on funding for alternative sentencing instead of more prisons. (Jun 2000)
Voted YES on more prosecution and sentencing for juvenile crime. (Jun 1999)
Voted NO on maintaining right of habeas corpus in Death Penalty Appeals. (Mar 1996)
Voted YES on making federal death penalty appeals harder. (Feb 1995)
Voted NO on replacing death penalty with life imprisonment. (Apr 1994)
Rated 30% by CURE, indicating anti-rehabilitation crime votes. (Dec 2000)
More prison cells; more truth in sentencing. (Nov 1993)
More prisons, more enforcement, effective death penalty. (Sep 1994)

Tom DeLay on Drugs
Voted YES on military border patrols to battle drugs & terrorism. (Sep 2001)
Voted YES on prohibiting needle exchange & medical marijuana in DC. (Oct 1999)
Voted NO on subjecting federal employees to random drug tests. (Sep 1998)

The same pol who wanted to limit writs and warehouse more Americans in government cages, is now facing the working end of those ideals. I haven't kept up with the details of the prosecution. I know Tom saw his prosecution as a political witch hunt. That's rich coming from a guy who has been carrying the pitch fork with the GOP mob all these years.

Guess what Tom? Our modern criminal justice system is full of witch hunts. We've got the Drug War, DWI, ILLEGALS, sex offender boogeymen etc. You just don't like the particular witch hunt that landed you in jail.

Here's how Tom felt about his verdict in November. From ABCnews-

"They've got to bankrupt you, ruin your family, put you in jail, put you in the grave, and then dance on your grave. That's not good for the country."

So spare me the outrage Tom. You helped create the system where prosecutors can unilaterally decide which citizen to destroy, and now they've chosen you.

I didn't see any of this concern for the million of families the drug war has ruined. When you're in prison Tom you can meet a few hundred new friends who have been bankrupted, incarcerated, and had their families destroyed by the criminal justice system you worked to create. (I know this is a State prosecution, and Tom was a fed pol, but the principles are the same).

Remember folks, it's always easier to be tuff on crime when you don't think you'll ever be prosecuted. In a State with over 2,300 felony offenses (11 involving oysters), be careful about casting that first stone.

In case you missed it, Pat Robertson, yes that Pat Robertson, is questioning the wisdom of cannabis prohibition. I'm amazed it took this long for a Christian Conservative leader to come out against arresting and prosecuting adults for smoking weed. It seems to violate the Golden Rule/ "love your neighbor as yourself" ethos to lock said neighbor in a government cage and steal their money, children, and freedom for consuming a plant.

It also speaks to the glaring inconsistency in mainstream Republican thought. Fiscal conservatism is based on the idea that individuals should be responsible for their own behavior and decisions, and that central planning and oppressive government regulations are bad for America. Free markets, free trade, Adam Smith, self interested rational actors, invisbile hand etc all speak to the idea that individuals, not the State, make better decisions on how to spend money.

Unless you spend that money on "drugs". Then fiscal conservatism Hulks out and becomes the evil twin, big government social conservatism.

Social conservatism embraces the polar opposite set of values as fiscal. Oppressive government and central planning are great (DEA/FDA), and individual responsibility is to be found by locking individuals up for a few years. Liberty is to be found in home invasion SWAT raids to protect "family values". The best decisions are made by bureaucrats, cops, prosecutors, and the DEA, not individuals.

Really, it never made sense to me that you could be against Obama Care, but for a War on Drugs. I've never met a conservative who could satisfactorily explain how that is anything less than a bipolar cluster of incoherence.

On to the video-

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I had my first speaking gig for LEAP today. I've been a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition for a few years now and I was excited at the opportunity to present some our ideas to the Richardson Rotary Club.

First, I'd like to thank the Rotarians for the opportunity. Really nice people and very receptive to the discussion. I should join the Rotary club someday. The Rotarians mission of service and promoting peace and goodwill actually lines up quite well with the LEAP message.

On a technical note, I used Keynote on the Ipad for the first time. Better to test it out with a non jury audience before taking it to court. It worked fine, but the Ipad doesn't have a remote control for Keynote- FAIL. You can use your Iphone as a remote if you have a wifi connection. But the Ipad needs a bluetooth remote post haste. I had to stand next to my Ipad and touch the screen to change slides. Not horrible, but it really cuts down on my ability to work the room.

As for the substantive discussion, I first detailed why the status quo must end. Skip ahead if you've heard this before.

1. The War on Drugs is over, drugs won. Drug use has not plummeted and denabd remains largely unaffected despite spending over a $1T and arresting over 39M.
2. Prohibition gives the market over to cartels. At least $20B in monopoly profits. Cartels use these profits to wage war in Mexico (over 20,000 deaths in the last 3 years) and bribe our cops.
2a. Opportunity costs are real; the time we waste busting pot smokers (at the alarming rate of 100 per hour) could be better spent improving the clearance rate of real crime (rape, murder etc).
3. We can win the drug war in 3 easy steps.
Step 1, legalize, regulate, and tax cannabis for medical/recreational use. Pot is 60-80% of cartel profits. That move alone would save thousands of lives in Mexico.
Step 2, take back the addict market. Given away free heroin to addicts under a doctor's supervision. We reduce disease and death, and put more drug dealers out of business.
Step 3. Create a legal market for recreational drugs. People wouldn't smoke meth if we had some legal form of Aderrall available. People wouldn't smoke crack as much if we had the Original Coca Cola back.

That's it. You've put every cartel out of the drug business, and you've given back millions of law enforcement hours and billions of law enforcement dollars to solving crime, not busting addicts and college kids with joints.
The reaction was largely positive. I was asked how we can end the WOD when our politicians lack the will to even discuss the issue. I explained that Rotarians are leaders, not fringe anarchists or economic eggheads (we've got those supporters in spades). Start by talking with your friends, and then emailing your reps in Congress. Tell them we want a new approach, something that works. The subject is still taboo in many circles and we need to change the stigma associated with advocating for regulating, controlling, and legalizing drugs.

One thing I learned is that most people don't spend any time researching this issue. They are busy, and operate on the assumption that the government wouldn't spend so much time and money on the WOD if it wasn't a good idea.

I assume, because I read libertarian/defense blogs frequently, that everyone knows what I know about the WOD and cannabis prohibition. Not so much. The audience are shocked by the fact that over 20,000 Mexicans have been killed in cartel warfare in the last 3 years, that 100 pot smokers are arrested every hour, that the clearance rate for rape is 40% (largely because of the resources wasted on drug cases). Presented with the evidence most will admit the WOD is FUBAR and we need a fresh approach.

To that end, I'm looking for more speaking gigs. Want me to speak at your next event re: ending the failed drug war? Email me directly, or contact LEAP (leap.cc).

As a cannabis legalization advocate I often email my pols and ask them to consider supporting various common sense reform measures. One recent email to Joe Barton sought support for a measure to end the federal prosecution of state sanctioned medical marijuana patients. Being as the Republican party is, or was, the party of state's right, local control, and limited government, I was sure that Joe Barton would gladly support this common sense measure. Or maybe not.

Here's Mr. Barton in his own words.

Dear Mr. Guest:

Thank you for contacting me regarding your support for legalizing marijuana for medical use. I appreciate hearing from you on this matter.

Congressman Barney Frank has introduced H.R. 2835, the Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act. This legislation would allow for the medical use of marijuana in accordance with the laws of the various States. H.R. 2835 has been referred to the Energy and Commerce Committee.

I am opposed to the legalization of marijuana under any circumstances. The greatest myth about marijuana is that it is harmless. America needs to realize that despite the claims of marijuana advocates, the volume of medical knowledge about the dangers of marijuana continues to grow.

Marijuana increases the heart rate as much as 50%, increases blood pressure in susceptible individuals, and reduces the amount of blood pumped by the heart. Current research also indicates that marijuana may interfere with the body's immune response to various infections and diseases. Additionally, marijuana seriously impairs the ability of individuals to think rationally, react to outside forces, and function properly.

When an individual uses drugs and then proceeds to operate a motor vehicle, they are not only putting themselves at an increased risk, they are endangering the lives of others. Often the fight against drugs focuses on the detrimental effects such substances can have on the user's physical and mental health, but we also must consider entirely different group innocent individuals who find themselves in the destructive path of a drug user.

Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. Although we disagree on this matter, your thoughts are important to me, and I hope you will continue to let me know about matters of importance to you.

Sincerely,

Joe Barton
Member of Congress

I'd like to thank Mr. Barton for responding. So many pols send meaningless canned responses that don't even address the issue. Senators are especially obtuse. Someone on Joe's staff at least read my letter and noted the exact bill I'm asking about.

Let me disagree with a few of Joe's points. I'm not sure if anything is "harmless". But should that be our standard for liberty? American adults may only engage in completely benign activities or risk federal prosecution? That doesn't sound like a limited government idea.

Why won't Joe apply the same standard to the police state, that he does to plants? SWAT teams routinely murder dogs and occasionaly kill humans, drug cartels murder Mexicans en masse with cannabis profits. You can't die from smoking weed. You can die from a home invasion SWAT raid.

Joe then quotes some really scary information about cannabis use hurting your heart. I'm not a doctor. I'm pretty sure Joe isn't a doctor either. But these groups, which probably include some really smart doctors, do advocate for patient access to doctor prescribed medical cannabis.

The American Medical Association
The American College of Physicians - America's second largest physicians group
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society - America's second largest cancer charity
American Academy of Family Physicians
American Alliance for Medical Cannabis
American Public Health Association
American Psychiatric Association
American Nurses Association
British Medical Association
AIDS Action
American Academy of HIV Medicine
Lymphoma Foundation of America
Health Canada

I'll take their word for it.

Then Mr. Barton sets up the ultimate straw man- stoned killers behind the wheel. DWI is a favorite fall back argument for prohibitionists. You don't support intoxicated drivers killing innocent Americans do you?

Two problems with that logic. First, people already drive stoned because the product is deregulated. Really, unregulated means anyone can buy it whenever they want.

Second, this study, and this study, both say stoned drivers aren't all that bad at driving. This meta analysis shows that any comparison between drunk and high driving are misguided.

Finally, with law enforcement freed from arresting every dime bag carrying college kid they could spend that time on..... DWI enforcement.

If we apply Joe's logic to booze, the the 21st Amendment was a mistake. It's people like Joe that have to be convinced Prohibition was a failure. It may not be possible to reach people who are so blinded by the status quo. But I can try.

Marijuana prohibition has turned our nation's peace officers into violent paramillitary predators. If you still support arresting pot smokers watch this video. This Missouri SWAT team invades the home at night, shoots the family dogs (with the children present), discover a misdemeanor amount of marijuana, and charge the parents with child endangerment!

Let's get this straight; parents keeping a few ounces of a non toxic plant at home = child endangerment. A home invasion SWAT raid breaking into said home to shoot the family pets and scare the shit out of these poor children = proper police work.

We can change this system at any time. Outlawing home invasion SWAT raids would be a good start. Legalizing the products that these dangerous narco warriors are looking for, would also work.

Texas Ranger's Manager Ron Washington recently admitted that he used a little blow last year and that it was a one time deal. He's really sorry and promises not to do it again.

At least one local sportstwriter calling for Ron's immediate termination. That's a position that can be debated. Baseball is entertainment and if the Rangers, a private business, want their employees to not use blow, so be it.

That argument aside we should all be grateful that Ron didn't get arrested. Bosses and employers can be forgiving and understanding. The criminal justice machine, not so much.

If Ron had been arrested in Texas for possession of any amount of coke, he would have faced a state jail felony case for possession of a controlled substance, a sentence of 6 months-2 years in State jail (no parole), a fine of up to $10,000. Being a first time offender he would have been put on probation (Texas catches so many casual drug users we had to pass a law against incarcerating them, Onward Prohibition!).

What would purpose Ron's arrest and felony prosecution have served? Would your family be safer right now if Ron had been thrown in jail and put on probation? The lie that is the foundation of our modern criminal justice system is that arresting, prosecution, and incarcerating a small random percentage of drug users somehow makes the country a better place. That we are "sending the right message" when we destroy the lives of some casual users while the vast majority of users never get caught. It's nonsense in a way Shirley Jackson would appreciate. Our failed choice also fuels the bloody narco wars in Mexico.

The truth is that society is better off when we don't arrest and destroy the majority of drug users. First, not all recreational drug users are created equal. In fact, some casual coke snorters end up as President of the United States (see Obama/W) or the manager of your favorite baseball team. Outside of Saying Yes by Jacob Sullum, little has been written on casual drug users who are not hopeless reprobates.

Debate the merits of firing Ron all you want, but we should all be glad that not one minute of law enforcement time, or one dollar of your taxes, were wasted on his prosecution. Terminating Ron Washington is a choice for his employer to make; the decision to not make felons out of future Ron Washingtons is up to the voters.

Good stuff from Reason.TV. Whenever our government masters want more control over our bodies they send out the addiction boogeyman. In reality, addiction hype is just another trojan horse whereby our government offers the convenient liberty for safety trade.

Should the government ban effective pain mediations like Vicodin? Watch this before you decide.

The last 70 years of failure call for a new approach.

DEA Recruits Lil Wayne To Use Up All Drugs In Mexico

You know what America needs, more people in jail on federal drug charges. Why limit the tyranny of cannabis prohibition to Americans? Let's spread Nixon's WOD all over the continent and import Canadians for incarceration! Hope and Change!

Our latest political prisoner in the war on weed is Marc Emery. Marc is a marijuana activist/cannabis seed distributor in Canada. Marc sells marijuana seeds and the Canadian government happily taxes the profits. Marc is the founder of the British Columbia Marijuana Party and a leader in the movement towards cannabis sanity in the Great White North. Marc was recently arrested in Canada, and is awating deportation to America to face a 5 year sentence on federal drug charges.

Marc is being prosecuted for sending cannabis seeds through the US mail. A google search will show you that there are a few dozen operations offering a similar service. Consensual crime enforcement is nothing if not arbitrary and capricious. When millions are breaking the law the government can pick and choose whom to prosecute. While Marc was arrested for conspiracy to distribute his real crime was being an advocate for cannabis reform. Nothing pisses of the DEA mutawas like political dissent.

Think your federal government is above using the criminal justice system to destroy free speecht? This isn't the first time, nor will it be the last.

Pain patients (and providers) are yet another sacrifice to the angry jealous god of Prohibition. Reason.TV hits a home run detailing the ongoing tragedy of those with chronic pain. In order to "sent the right message" to kids we sentence millions of Americans to a lifetime of under treated, or untreated pain.

I've seen a lot of drug cases and represented scores of drug defendants. The legal issues are generally the same- search and seizure, affirmative links, etc. What is always different is the defendant. Drug defendants can be broken down into three categories- addicts, users, and the innocent.

By far, addicts are the most difficult group to represent. Addicts can and do miss court dates (not to mention payments), pick up new cases, dress inappropriately (eg pajamas in court) and lack the mental stamina required for criminal litigation.

By definition addicts are short term thinkers. They see coming to court and worrying about their case as a problem with an easy solution- plead guilty and get probation.

Not so fast. Addicts make horrible probationers. State jails in Texas are a monument to the futility of putting addicts on probation and magically expecting behavior to change.

Probationers may hate their PO, hate doing community service, fall behind on payments, unable to find work, etc. Stress triggers drug use. Community supervision is stressful. Failing drug tests can often lead to a revocation hearing and/or incarceration. The road goes on forever, the party never ends.

I'm a criminal defense lawyer. I solve legal problems. Addiction is a medical issue that requires medical attention. I've had enough CLE on addiction (and viewed enough Intervention episodes) to know this is not an area I can personally assist clients. What I can and do recommend is that all clients with substance abuse issues seek treatment immediately.

The time between arrest and case disposition varies from county to county. In Dallas/Kaufman the average state jail dope case can take anywhere from a few months to nearly two years to finalize. I encourage all drug defendants (except the innocent non user) to use this time to address any addiction problem they may have.

Going to treatment is a win/win for drug defendants. I'm often asked if by defendants if they will "look guilty" if they seek help. My answer is always the same.

SEEKING TREATMENT WILL ONLY HELP YOUR CASE. It's a win/win for the defendant no matter how the case ends.

If your case is going to end in a plea bargain completing treatment helps. Part of plea bargaining is selling the defendant. If my client has completed treatment that will set him/her apart and often leads to better plea offers.

Unlike legal/factual problems which your defense lawyer may or may not share with the State (depending on the case/court/prosecutor the decision to divulge legal/factual issues must be carefully weighed) information about positive change in the defendant's life is always shared.

If your case goes to trial and you win, then completing treatment will help you avoid the rap, and the ride in the future. If your case goes to trial and you lose, then your defense lawyer can put on evidence (at the punishment hearing) that you are addressing your addiction problems head on, rather than waiting for the case to finalize. This can sway a judge/jury to grant a better sentence.

I'm in a jury trial so this will be a short post. But holy shit, this is amazing. A very honest prosecutor had the courage to challenge the War on Drugs on the TDCAA message board. It's a short thread at this point. But the point is made, even prosecutors know this is a failure. I'm assuming B Leonard can be so honest because he is not running for office anytime soon.

Prohibition is the Wizard of Oz. We need to all pay attention to this opinion from behind the curtain.

Here is BLeonard from Fort Worth

BLeonard Member posted 11-05-04 Sometimes it happens this way: I'm scratching out a plea on a case or revocation of one more dope defendant and the fear takes me. We are losing the "war on drugs." More than a decade ago, my father, a former prosecutor himself, told me that my job was to identify the truly bad actors and quarantine them from their prey. As to the rest? Keep them dogies rollin'. I'm not smart enough to know how to handle the drug problem but I can recognize what doesn't work and this is it. We cannot fill our prisons with dopers and allow the predators to roam free. In my view we shouldn't fill the prisons with dopers. And the small voice whispers,"If we did win the war on drugs what would you do all day?" Posts: 747 | From: Fort Worth, TX, USA | Registered: 07-30-02

Now this is Texas, so of course the deviation from prosecutor group think will have some rebutall. The prohibition apologist's response are common fallacies- think of the children, some drug dealers are also pedophiles etc, and we should jail addicts who don't want treatment.

Martha W. Warner Member posted 08-25-09 Drug dealers are dangerous to kids I too had hit the wall with sending drug dealers including college kids without records to prison. Last week I tried a 28 year old man who was providing marihauna to young girls, 13 and 15 year old. While manipulating and having sex multiple times every day with the 15 year old this Defendant who was 22 started molesting her 4 year old sister while everyone was asleep.The 4 yr old also watched them put brown stuff in a paper ,roll it up and smoke it. Afterwards she was told not to tell, "Its their secret" He threatened to kill the child's family if she ever told anyone what he was doing. After being confronted about stealing the Defendant moved out and picked up the cute wild little 13 year old and again had sex every way for about a month and half. He then gets arrested and neither girl saw him again until 4 years later.

Ok. I have a suggestion. If we stopped incarcerating every user and dealer we could focus our criminal justice resources on those who sell drugs to children. We have it backwards right now. We arrest all drug users and providers because some may be child rapists. Why not focus on the predators? If cops weren't so busy arresting for every dime bag they find, we could better use our limited criminal justice resources.

Not content with the recent domination of the US in soccer Mexico is also winning the race to embrace freedom, liberty, and drug war sanity. What caused Mexico to embrace a common sense approach to personal drug use instead of maintaining a US style "tuff-on-crime" approach?

Police corruption played a big part. In Mexico being a drug addict was a defense to possession of small quantities of drugs. Ergo, simple possession cases were rarely prosecuted after arrest. Meanwhile Mexican LEOs made great money shaking down users for cash.

We have a similar system in America. We waste billions prosecuting simple possession cases across our country. The State Jail system in Texas is a monument to this perpetual failure.

American LEOs are usually bribed by dealers not addicts (at least the ones that get caught are). Consensual crime enforcement has always been synonmous with corruption. In America we ignore these drug war exteranlities or blame them on users. The truth is that corruption and violence are the inevitable result of Prohibition.

From the Associated Press-

Mexico decriminalizes small-scale drug possession By MARK STEVENSON (AP) – 2 hours ago MEXICO CITY — Mexico decriminalized small amounts of marijuana, cocaine and heroin on Friday — a move that prosecutors say makes sense even in the midst of the government's grueling battle against drug traffickers...

The new law sets out maximum "personal use" amounts for drugs, also including LSD and methamphetamine. People detained with those quantities no longer face criminal prosecution.
Espino del Castillo says, in practice, small users almost never did face charges anyway. Under the previous law, the possession of any amount of drugs was punishable by stiff jail sentences, but there was leeway for addicts caught with smaller amounts.
"We couldn't charge somebody who was in possession of a dose of a drug, there was no way ... because the person would claim they were an addict," he said.
Despite the provisions, police sometimes hauled in suspects and demanded bribes, threatening long jail sentences if people did not pay.
"The bad thing was that it was left up to the discretion of the detective, and it could open the door to corruption or extortion," Espino del Castillo said.
Anyone caught with drug amounts under the new personal-use limit will be encouraged to seek treatment, and for those caught a third time treatment is mandatory.
The maximum amount of marijuana for "personal use" under the new law is 5 grams — the equivalent of about four joints. The limit is a half gram for cocaine, the equivalent of about 4 "lines." For other drugs, the limits are 50 milligrams of heroin, 40 milligrams for methamphetamine and 0.015 milligrams for LSD.

On a side note- I'm going to Mexico in 3 weeks for a much needed vacation. I'll report back on whether this common sense measure turns Mexico into Sodom overnight. My guess, those in Mexico who wanted to use drugs and marijuana, were already using them. Maybe I'm wrong and everyone will be smoking crack when I arrive, but I doubt it.