Gladys McCormick, a professor of history at Syracuse University in New York. "It is broadening legalization in ways which aren't common in the western hemisphere."

McCormick, an expert in the war on drugs in the Americas said "it's a new way of tackling the drug war that's more than just the guns-a-blazing strategy they've been practicing."

Under the plan, the Mexican government would buy the poppies from the farmers and turn it into pain medicine for exports to other countries. Mexico says its problem is ensuring the safety of the growers when they refuse to sell to the cartels. So it is beefing up the military presence in these communities to protect them.

The U.S. will hate this plan if it happens. I hope Donald Trump and Jefferson Sessions are too pre-occupied with their other issues to notice that support for legalizing poppies has grown significantly in Mexico the past few years.