A petition to stop the drug war and police brutality in Tulum

In spite of the blatant abuses of law enforcement officials searching for marijuana intimidating tourists that happen every day in Tulum, in the recent years this gem of the Caribean has been profilied as a destination where people from all over the world come, in search of different forms of natural healing therapies, that often include the use of natural medicines.

It is clear, that criminalization and legally restricticting the supply of any substances in any way only pushes them below the surface and grants more power to the network of illicit dealers, subsequently increasing the consumer prices and making the access to these beneficial substances more difficult and dangerous. Not to mention the dangers of being assaulted by the thugs disguised as officials using the war on drugs as an excuse for intimidating and searching on people, while hurting the livelyhood of the great majority of the local people who lives of mainly from the tourism.

Albert Einstein famously phrased : 'We cannot solve a problem with the same level of consciousness that created it.' It is our duty now to report and raise awareness on this troublesome issue in the Riviera Maya, that has bothered so many people in recent years and remains without resolution, and to question: Who benefits for keeping such a violent policy in place?

Following the money is impossible for the financial secrecy and corruption within the investigative layers of the law enforcement. However, if we understand the history of the criminalization of marijuana, we can create awareness of the actual problem, that clearly would not exist without the act of criminalization of this marvelous plant.

It was during the administration of Nixon in the 70's when the Marijuana was considered as a number one public enemy of the health of the youth in the USA, when the real concern were the commercial interests of the Big Pharma. In order to sell the story to the people, a huge media campaign was launched to promote the Gateway Drug theory, according to which the use of marijuana leads to the use of stronger and more dangerous drugs, that has later proven to be blatant progaganda. The gateway that marijuana opens, is not leading to misery but to liberation from the shackles of the official narrative and to the uncharted possibilities of the mind that is our birth right to discover.

As a side note, hemp was subsequently also criminalized, officially only for its similar appearance but in reality for the lobbying of the Big Oil companies, whose interests were being threatened by the organic alternative hemp represented. We are still paying the collateral damage of this corruption in the form of enormous plastic problem it has caused in the seas and shores of our precious planet, that Tulum is not an exception of.

None of those reasons never were valid from the standpoint of the public interest, and the ignorance and playing fool in the age of information is no longer acceptable for the politicians and law enforcement officials. The beneficiaries of such policies are not in Tulum. That said, I believe, we can all agree that current policies are making more harm to our local economy for the bad reputation it gives to our magical town.

When a government starts a war on something it always seem to worsen and extend, while the actions in combating whatever where the original supposed problem, cause numerous other real problems aside. We can find other examples of this dynamic globally in war on terrorism and COVID. When you study the etymology of the word government the reason of this becomes clear: Govern = Control, Mente= Mind; The War was never meant to end the problem, but to use it to control our minds. It appears as if the continuous harassment is a form to remind the citizens on the monopoly of violence the officials have in Mexico. They are used to and incentivized in playing a role in this Game in Tulum, while running free of all criticism, after being caught red-handed and publicly denounced. The responsible for changing the tone of the play, is the President of the Municipality of Tulum.

It has been revealed in movies and