(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Few adults in Mexico would consent to the legalization of drugs, according to a poll by GEA-ISA. 75 per cent of respondents think it is necessary to keep fighting drug traffickers for an unlimited amount of time.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Few adults in Mexico would consent to the legalization of drugs, according to a poll by GEA-ISA. 75 per cent of respondents think it is necessary to keep fighting drug traffickers for an unlimited amount of time.
Mexican president Felipe Calderón took over as Mexico’s head of state in December 2006. During his campaign, he vowed to combat illicit drug trafficking and drug-related crime. One of Calderón’s first measures was to send military personnel to northern towns severely affected by drug trafficking. More than 6,300 people have died in 2008 and 2009, many of them caught in conflicts between drug cartels.
Under the so-called Merida initiative, the U.S. is giving Mexico $1.4 billion U.S. in order to combat organized crime and drug trafficking.
On Dec. 4, U.S. ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual discussed the current state of affairs, saying, "In any program there is a necessary lead time for obtaining the resources, for executing the contracts, for producing the necessary equipment, for training the people on their use, and that’s what we’ve been doing now. And what you’ll see over the course of the next year and a half is a radical change in the pace of the implementation."
Polling Data
Do you think it is necessary to keep fighting drug traffickers for an unlimited amount of time, or do you think it would be better to legalize drugs?
|
Keep fighting drug traffickers |
75% |
|
Legalize drugs |
19% |
|
Not sure |
6% |
Source: GEA-ISA
Methodology: Face-to-face interviews with 1,000 Mexican adults, conducted from Nov. 13 to Nov. 15, 2009. Margin of error is 4 per cent.
