The El Paso City Council considered a resolution today calling for the legalization of marijuana as way to strip Mexican drug cartels of the  rich profits they make from the illegal market.

Unfortunately the resolution failed when Mayor John Cook broke a 4-4 tie and voted against. However, the council then amended the resolution to  take out the marijuana legalization language and passed it as amended.   The amended resolution still says the council calls for a "comprehensive  re-examination of our country's failed War on Drugs and...support[s] initiatives that do not result in wasting government funds and  empowering criminal gangs and trafficking organizations."

This is particularly noteworthy considering that previously, the El Paso City Council set off a nationwide debate on the merits of legalization  in January 2009 when it unanimously passed a resolution that merely  called for serious consideration of ending prohibition as one possible  option. Mayor Cook vetoed that resolution and the council refrained from  overriding the veto only after receiving threats from Congressman  Silvestre Reyes that the city would lose federal stimulus money if it  insisted on supporting a discussion of the merits of legalization.

It remains to be seen if the mayor will veto today's amended resolution, or if the council will get pressure from Congress.

(See video of former federal agent Richard Newton testimony at El Paso hearing on Youtube)

The original draft of the  resolution that explicitly calls for the legalization of marijuana can be viewed at
http://www.elpasotexas.gov/muni_clerk/agenda/02-09-10/02091011A.pdf