U.S. drug czar: We’ll “wait and see” on Mexican decriminalization bill

A new bill approved by Mexico’s congress would effectively decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine and heroin. Under the new law, treatment programs would be suggested for the first two offences and mandated for the third. Visiting U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske seems not quite sure how to feel about it: “I guess ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.
582853_090730_kerlikowske2.jpg
582853_090730_kerlikowske2.jpg
The director of the US Office of National Drug Control Policy, Gil Kerlikowske (L), and Mexican Secretary of Health Jose Angel Cordoba, offer a press conference at the Secreatry of Health building in Mexico City, on July 28, 2009. AFP PHOTO/Luis Acosta (Photo credit should read LUIS ACOSTA/AFP/Getty Images)

A new bill approved by Mexico’s congress would effectively decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine and heroin. Under the new law, treatment programs would be suggested for the first two offences and mandated for the third. Visiting U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske seems not quite sure how to feel about it:

“I guess if I was looking at it strictly from our viewpoint, the use of the government as a strong sanction is often pretty helpful in getting people into treatment,” said Kerlikowske, who heads the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy. “If the sanction becomes completely nonexistent I think that would be a concern, but I actually didn’t read quite that level of de-facto (decriminalization) in the law.”

“I would actually give this a bit of a wait and see attitude,” said Kerlikowske. “I’ve always found about laws, whether they’ve been enacted by states or our own federal government, is that it is the application and the use of the law and how it’s actually done” are key.

Kerlikowske was much more enthusiastic about Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s tougher proposal, which would mandate treatment for first offenders through special drug courts. Still, the fact that a U.S. drug czar is this open to any decriminalization program from its drug-war ally, does seem significant. The United States publicly criticized a similar bill in 2006.

Kerlikowske disappointed marijuana legalization advocates last week by saying, “Legalization is not in the president’s vocabulary, and it’s not in mine.” But Kerlikowske has previously explained that he does not in any way support legalization, but favors a treatment model over a law-enforcement approach. 

The question is whether the drug czar is going to back up his rhetoric with any real reform, especially at a time when the Obama administration has little political capital to spare. His measured response to the Mexican bill and presence at the release of a UN report, which praises Portugal’s decriminalization program, may indicate that he’s dipping his toe into this debate while making it very clear that legalization is out of the question. 

For now, drug law reform advocates will probably have to take a “wait and see attitude” toward him as well. 

UIS ACOSTA/AFP/Getty Images

Joshua Keating is a former associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

More from Foreign Policy

Children are hooked up to IV drips on the stairs at a children's hospital in Beijing.
Children are hooked up to IV drips on the stairs at a children's hospital in Beijing.

Chinese Hospitals Are Housing Another Deadly Outbreak

Authorities are covering up the spread of antibiotic-resistant pneumonia.

Henry Kissinger during an interview in Washington in August 1980.
Henry Kissinger during an interview in Washington in August 1980.

Henry Kissinger, Colossus on the World Stage

The late statesman was a master of realpolitik—whom some regarded as a war criminal.

A Ukrainian soldier in helmet and fatigues holds a cell phone and looks up at the night sky as an explosion lights up the horizon behind him.
A Ukrainian soldier in helmet and fatigues holds a cell phone and looks up at the night sky as an explosion lights up the horizon behind him.

The West’s False Choice in Ukraine

The crossroads is not between war and compromise, but between victory and defeat.

Illustrated portraits of Reps. MIke Gallagher, right, and Raja Krishnamoorthi
Illustrated portraits of Reps. MIke Gallagher, right, and Raja Krishnamoorthi

The Masterminds

Washington wants to get tough on China, and the leaders of the House China Committee are in the driver’s seat.