And in Mexico, lawmakers are weighing whether to legalize medical marijuana, in a move that could have big implications for a drug war that’s killed more than 100,000 Mexicans over the last decade. On December 13, Mexico’s Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill that would allow the cultivation of marijuana for medical use and scientific study. The lower house of Mexico’s Congress will now consider the measure. The debate comes in the wake of November’s U.S. election, which saw voters in Massachusetts, Maine, Nevada and California join Washington and Colorado in allowing the use of recreational pot. This is Mexican Senator Roberto Gil Zuarth.

Sen. Roberto Gil Zuarth: “Mexico needs to move forward, and soon. We need to resolve this debate. It doesn’t make any sense for us to continue with all these deaths while in the United States the use of marijuana is legal, especially because the trafficking of marijuana to the United States market represents approximately 40 percent of criminal gangs’ income. It’s a lot of money, and this money is used to finance other kinds of illicit activities.”