( CNN ) -- Former Mexican President Vicente Fox has joined three other ex-leaders of Latin American nations calling for the decriminalization of marijuana . Former Mexico President Vicente Fox says it 's time to open the debate on legalizing marijuana . Fox , who was Mexico 's president from 2000 to 2006 , said the current policy is clearly not working . `` I believe it 's time to open the debate over legalizing drugs , '' he told CNN on Tuesday . `` It must be done in conjunction with the United States , but it is time to open the debate . '' He pointed to how the end of Prohibition in the United States in 1933 lessened organized crime violence . `` It ca n't be that the only way is for the state to use force , '' he said . Watch Fox say it 's time to debate legalizing drugs » . Fox was mirroring a position adopted earlier this year by his predecessor as president of Mexico , Ernesto Zedillo , and the former heads of Colombia and Brazil . The three former chief executives are members of the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy . At a February meeting in Brazil , the commission called for the decriminalization of marijuana for personal use and a change in tactics in the war on drugs . `` The problem is that current policies are based on prejudices and fears and not on results , '' former Colombian President Cesar Gaviria said at a news conference in which the 17-member commission 's recommendations were presented . Former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil said the group called for only the decriminalization of marijuana and not other illicit drugs because `` you have to start somewhere . '' Zedillo was president of Mexico from 1994 to 2000 . Gaviria was president of Colombia from 1990 to 1994 . And Cardoso led Brazil from 1995 to 2002 . Fox said any change in drug laws must be accompanied by an education campaign in schools and homes . And because the United States is a large consumer of marijuana that comes from Latin America , any steps toward legalization must be supported in Washington , he said . Gaviria said in February that the time is right to start a debate on the subject , particularly with the pragmatic openings provided by the election of President Obama . `` In many states in the United States , as is the case in California , they have begun to change federal policies with regard to tolerating marijuana for therapeutic purposes . And in Washington there 's some consensus that the current policy is failing , '' Gaviria said . The call for a change in strategy comes amid a horrific explosion of drug-related violence in Mexico , where officials say 10,000 people have been killed since President Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006 . Calderon said in a speech earlier this year that 6,500 of those deaths occurred in 2008 . Calderon , who succeeded Fox , ramped up the battle against the nation 's narcotics traffickers and brought in the army to reinforce often ineffective local and state police . That was a change in tactics from Fox , who said he had chosen to strengthen federal police and intelligence-gathering operations and to create a secretary for public security . But now that Calderon has chosen a different approach , he must prevail , Fox said in an exclusive interview with CNN . `` If you go to war , you have to win it quickly and according to regulations , '' he said . `` Human rights are very important . '' It also is important that the United States `` accept its responsibility , '' he said . `` I would like to see some steps taken here in the United States . We see the drugs are coming across the border and are distributed in Atlanta and Washington and Chicago and all parts of the country . '' Fox 's comparison of the current battle to Prohibition in the United States in the 1920s was recently touted by Robert Pastor , who was a Latin America national security adviser for President Carter in the late 1970s . He called the problem in Mexico `` even worse than Chicago during the Prohibition era . '' Pastor said a solution similar to what ended that violence is needed now . `` What worked in the U.S. was not Eliot Ness , '' he said , referring to the federal agent famous for fighting gangsters in the 1920s and 19'30s . `` It was the repeal of Prohibition . '' Others are not so sure . `` This has become a world of globalization , '' said Monte Alejandro Rubido Garcia , Mexico 's executive secretary for the National System for Public Safety . `` Globalization has many virtues but some errors . I ca n't conceive that one part of the world would decriminalize drugs because it would become a paradise for drug use . It might bring down violence , but there would be social damage . ''
Changes in drug policy should be done in line with the U.S. , Vicente Fox says . Former Mexican president compares drug battle to Prohibition in the 1920s . Call for a change caused by surge in drug - related violence in Mexico .