The First City in America to Criminalize Marijuana Passes Resolution Criticizing Drug War
The El Paso city council has gone on record as condemning current US drug policies and demanding a shift to a smarter, more humane approach to drug sales and use.
A year ago, dismayed at the violence rocking its sister city of Ciudad Juárez just across the Rio Grande River, the city council in the remote Texas border city of El Paso unanimously passed a resolution calling for serious consideration of ending drug prohibition, only to see it vetoed by Mayor John Cook. Then, after heavy-handed warnings from US Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) and the city’s delegation in the state legislature that such a resolution could threaten the city’s funding, the city council backed down, failing to override Cook’s veto.