Mexico Ex Prez: Legalize Drugs

Mexico's war on drugs has been a failure and the country should consider legalizing them, according to former President Vicente Fox. Fox—in a blog post sharply critical of his successor Felipe Calderon's hardline policies—stresses that he doesn't believe drugs are good, but that he believes legalizing them will sap the power of drug cartels and thereby reduce their power to corrupt the government and police, CNN reports.

"We should consider legalizing the production, sale and distribution of drugs," Fox wrote. "Radical prohibition strategies have never worked." Over 26,000 people have died in drug-related violence since Calderon came to power in 2006 and deployed the military against drug cartels, a decision Fox says was a mistake. "They are not prepared for police work," he wrote. "They should return to the barracks." (More Felipe Calderon stories.)