Party poopers!

We knew it wouldn't last, didn't we? It was too good to be true, that new Mexican law allowing people to have small quantities of whatever drug their hearts desired. My main concern was that Mexico, an already surreal, illogical country, would outwonder Wonderland in bizarreness, but apparently killjoy American officials basically hit the roofo and promptly put a stop to Mexico's narcotic shenanigans. Omigod! All those gringos were going to descend upon Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez enmasse to partaay themselves to oblivion. Danger, Will Robinson!
Officials feared those two urban eyesores would become "the Amsterdam of Mexico". We wish! But not so fast. You can count on the good old US of A to kill the potential joy of thousands in an instant.
According to the NYT:

Judith Bryan, a spokeswoman for the American Embassy here, said the officials in Washington had urged Mexico "to review the legislation and to avoid the perception that drug use would be tolerated in Mexico and to prevent drug tourism."

It is unusual for American officials to try to influence internal Mexican legislation.

HA! That is the funniest statement I've read all week. And because this happens once in a blue moon, our very sovereign President, Vicente Fox, duly backtracked.
I think this law is a stupid idea (it's a good law for countries where the laws are actually followed), and that should be the reason to backtrack, not that gringo officials had a conniption over it. People should stop pretending that drugs are hard to find, here and in China. Whoever wants drugs will find them and will buy them and will use them, whether the law likes it or not. Legalize them and make those evil assholes who distribute them pay taxes like everybody else.

As this smart article from Camilla Cavendish in The London Times points out, the war on drugs is a losing proposition:

The Church of Prohibition cannot just keep chanting “war on drugs”. The narcotics industry can only be beaten by governments taking over its market. Give Boots and Superdrug the right to supply cocaine, and the price would plummet. Place it next to the support tights, and it would cease to be glamorous. Take away the illicit profits and you would remove the associated violence, corruption and prostitution too. Some people will always be irresponsible, whether they are drinking gin or sniffing glue. So take aim at the law, not at Tijuana. Otherwise we’ll just have another blinkered, pointless, violent Mexican standoff.

I feel sorry for the idiots who were already packing their bags...