President Pena Nieto Will Attend Big United Nations Drug Meeting After All VICE News
go to original April 17, 2016

After much criticism coming from legalization activists and the political opposition for his decision not to attend a major UN global drug policy meeting this week, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto has reversed course.

Peña Nieto's office released a statement announcing that the president will be "presenting Mexico's official position," at the special session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.

...The meeting will focus on possible alternatives to the current prohibitionist global approach to drugs in the context of widespread moves towards liberalization, at least when it comes to marijuana, as well as a growing body of opinion that blames extreme drug-related violence on hardline policies.

Mexico is also inevitably at the center of any discussion of world drug policy given the importance of its drug cartels and the intensity of violence suffered within its drug wars.

The country is also in the midst of a debate over marijuana legalization triggered by a landmark supreme court decision on recreational use.

Read the rest at VICE News

Related: UNGASS and the Violence of US Drug War Policies in the Americas (teleSUR)

Related: United Nations Takes on Drug Policy for the First Time in 18 Years (TakePart)

Related: Author Don Winslow on Why Politicians Have Trouble Abandoning Drug War Strategies That Don't Work (Deutsche Welle)

Related: Hundreds of Global Figures Call for End to Disastrous War on Drugs (Independent)

Photo: Thomas Samson/EPA

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!