Sex, drugs and other news o’ the day…
The Secretary of Health, Jose Angel Cordova said that if marijuana were legalized in Mexico, it would strengthen the cocaine cartels because the use of marijuana would lead to the use of cocaine. He said that studies proved that users of marijuana are 13 times more likely to use harder drugs.
Of course, Jose Angel Cordova also tried to sell the idea that condoms lead to sex. Cordova’s comments on cocaine came during Congressional hearings on decriminalizing marijuana.
Speaking of mood-altering substances, At the Red Fly, in Mexico City’s Condessa, serious research is being conducted, Ejutla, Oaxaca native son, Cornelio Lopez:
Led by the erudite López, the mezcólatras embarked on their quest in late 2005, taking the Red Fly as their base. Defined as those “who know the history, rites, manufacturing procedures, properties, tastes and ways of tasting mezcal,” the mezcólatras see it as their mission to defend the mezcal making tradition while making others aware of its value.
And, in the world of dangerous substances:
“BKC (Burger King Corp.) has made the decision to revise the Texican Whopper advertising creative out of respect for the Mexican culture and its people,” the company said in a statement sent to The Associated Press.
…”It was our intention to promote a product whose culinary origin lies in both the American and Mexican cultures, and was meant to appeal to those who enjoy the flavors and ingredients that each country offers,” the company said.
Burger King does not address the more serious issue of referring to something described as “taco coated chilli con carne” as Mexican food… or even food.
The Mex Files 
Interesting blog. A very relevant, yet underplayed component to the issue of marijuana legalization is generational, which might well be a gamechanger. Obama, and many of his key appointees, are members of Generation Jones—born 1954-1965, between the Boomers and Generation X [Google Generation Jones, and you’ll see it’s gotten a ton of media attention, and many top commentators from many top publications and networks (Washington Post, Time magazine, NBC, Newsweek, ABC, etc.) now specifically use this term. Here is a recent op-ed in USA TODAY about GenJones as the new generation of leadership: http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20090127/column27_st.art.htm%5D.
GenJones’ role as the new generation of leadership may be a gamechanger re. the drug issue for at least two main reasons:
1) Jonesers are by far the biggest pot smokers compared to the other generations. While Boomers are associated with pot, it was only a small, albeit very visible, segment of Boomers who actually smoked pot back in the day. Govt. and independent studies show that Jonesers as teens (in the 1970s) smoked 15 to 20 times more pot than Boomers did as teens. And not only did Jonesers smoke much more grass than any other generation of teens in US history, but still today in middle-age smoke it a remarkable amount. The data is really striking.
2) One of the key collective personality traits consistently attributed to Jonesers is their pragmatism. This is a generation which is far likelier to put aside ideology and deal with drugs in a realistic and practical way.
If ever there was a generation of leadership open to legalizing pot, it is Generation Jones. And if there ever was a time that the country might be open to this change in drug laws, it may be now…given the cash infusion that taxes on legalized pot would bring to this troubled economy, coupled with the easing of the escalating drug violence in Mexico legalization would likely bring.