Mexico Looks to Legalization as Drug War Murders Hit 28,000

President joins calls for debate after figures reveal extent of violence since launch of military offensive against cartels in 2006

by Jo Tuckman in Mexico City

Mexico's president, Felipe Calderón, has joined calls for a debate on the legalization of drugs as new figures show thousands of Mexicans every year being slaughtered in cartel wars.

Alleged drug traffickers stand behind packages of seized marijuana as they are presented to the press in Tijuana, Mexico, Wednesday July 21, 2010. According to the army, the suspects were arrested and the drugs seized from them in Tecate after a joint operation by the army and state police, and more than 100 tons of marijuana have been seized in 2010. (AP Photo/Guillermo Arias)

"It is a fundamental debate," the president said, belying his traditional reluctance to accept any questioning of the military-focused offensive against the country's drug cartels that he launched in late 2006. "You have to analyze carefully the pros and cons and key arguments on both sides." The president said he personally opposes the idea of legalization.

Calderón's new openness comes amid tremendous pressure to justify a strategy that has been accompanied by the spiraling of horrific violence around the country as the cartels fight each other and the government crack down. Official figures released this week put the number of drug war related murders at 28,000.

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