ABSTRACT
On 5 January 1940, Mexico’s President Cárdenas signed the new Federal Regulation of Drug Addiction. It swept away the old punitive edicts on drugs offences, authorized doctors to prescribe narcotics, established outpatient clinics, and made broader pleas to treat addicts as ill rather than as criminals or pariahs. Yet, within six months, the legislation was overturned. Goaded on by a prohibitionist, US, Mexico never looked back. This essay looks at Mexico’s period of drug legalization and asks (a) Why did Mexico introduce this policy? (b) How successful was this policy? (c) And finally why did the government bring the policy to an end?
