"Prohibitions have never worked," declares Vicente Fox. They didn't even work for God, the ex-president of Mexico told a small but appreciative audience of cannabis supporters on Saturday. Even in Paradise, he said, Adam and Eve defied God and ate the forbidden fruit.
Fox, President of Mexico from 2000 - 2006, believes regulation through legalization is a more sensible drug policy than prohibition. Such a move would represent freedom, which he noted is a basic founding tenet of his neighbor to the north, the U.S.A.
"It makes me sad," he said, to see tens of thousands of children die while working in the Mexican drug trade. They should be playing soccer, learning skills - things he thinks they'll have a better chance of achieving once cannabis and other drugs are properly regulated.
He predicts rapid change in Mexican drug laws, citing recent changes in other Central and South American countries, particularly Uruguay, as well as moves towards regulation in this country.
Fox said he believes strongly that a variety of drugs should be legal, but the only one he mentioned by name was cannabis, which is appropriate, since he made his remarks at the grandly named International Cannabis & Hemp Expo (INTCHE) in San Francisco's Civic Center Plaza.