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Mexico and Argentina move towards decriminalizing drugs
Argentina and Mexico have taken significant steps towards decriminalizing drugs amid a growing Latin American backlash against the US-sponsored "war on drugs".
Argentina's supreme court has ruled it unconstitutional to punish people for using marijuana for personal consumption, an eagerly awaited judgment that gave the government the green light to push for further liberalization.
It followed Mexico's decision to stop prosecuting people for possession of relatively small quantities of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs. Instead, they will be referred to clinics and treated as patients, not criminals.
Brazil and Ecuador are also considering partial decriminalization as part of a regional swing away from a decades-old policy of crackdowns still favored by Washington.