Guatemalan president still mulling whether to legalize marijuana
Guatemalan president still mulling whether to legalize marijuana
By Ed O'Keefe July 25
Will Guatemala ever legalize marijuana? Maybe.
The country's president, Otto Perez Molina, didn't rule out the possibility of legalizing the drug during an interview with The Washington Post on Thursday.
Molina and the leaders of El Salvador and Honduras are in town for meetings Friday with President Obama and Vice President Biden to discuss the historic influx of immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Ahead of their White House stop, the leaders huddled Thursday with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
A former military general, Molina caused a stir last year when he used his annual address at the United Nations General Assembly to credit the states of Colorado and Washington for their "visionary decision" to legalize marijuana.
Molina first raised the specter of legalization in 2012, just a few months after taking office. He admitted that the possibility of legalizing at least some drugs might help stem the flow and diminish the clout of violent drug gangs who rule over wide swaths of Central America. His change in tactics and rhetoric was notable since Molina had campaigned in 2011 on a law-and-order platform known as "Mano Dura," or "iron fist."
More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/07/25/guatemalan-president-still-mulling-whether-to-legalize-marijuana/
= new reply since forum marked as read
