Mexico set to legalize personal amounts of pot, cocaine...

[frigidmagi]

CNN

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AP) -- Mexico's Congress on Friday approved a bill decriminalizing possession of small quantities of marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine and even heroin for personal use, prompting U.S. criticism that the measure could harm anti-drug efforts.

The only step remaining was the signature of President Vicente Fox, whose office indicated he would sign the bill, which Mexican officials hope will allow police to focus on large-scale trafficking operations rather than minor drug busts.

"This law gives police and prosecutors better legal tools to combat drug crimes that do so much damage to our youth and children," said Fox's spokesman, Ruben Aguilar.

If Fox signs the measure and it becomes law, it could strain the two countries' cooperation in anti-drug efforts -- and increase the vast numbers of vacationing students who visit Mexico.

Oscar Aguilar, a Mexico City political analyst, said Fox appeared almost certain to sign the law -- his office proposed it, and his party supports it -- and that he had apparently been betting that it would not draw much notice.

"That's probably why they (the senators) passed it the way they did, in the closing hours of the final session," Aguilar said. "He's going to sign it. ... He's not going to abandon his party two months before the (presidential) election."

U.S. officials scrambled to come up with a response to the bill. One U.S. diplomat who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly said "we're still studying the legislation, but any effort to decriminalize illegal drugs would not be helpful."

The bill, passed 53-26 with one abstention by Mexico's Senate in the early morning hours, already has been approved in the lower house of Congress. It also stiffens penalties for trafficking and possession of drugs -- even small quantities -- by government employees or near schools, and maintains criminal penalties for drug sales.

The bill says criminal charges will no longer be brought for possession of up to 25 milligrams of heroin, 5 grams of marijuana (about one-fifth of an ounce, or about four joints), or 0.5 grams of cocaine -- the equivalent of about 4 "lines," or half the standard street-sale quantity (though half-size packages are becoming more common).

"No charges will be brought against ... addicts or consumers who are found in possession of any narcotic for personal use," according to the Senate bill, which also lays out allowable quantities for an array of other drugs, including LSD, ecstasy and amphetamines.

Some of the amounts are eye-popping: Mexicans would be allowed to possess more than two pounds of peyote, the button-size hallucinogenic cactus used in some native Indian religious ceremonies.

Mexican law now leaves open the possibility of dropping charges against people caught with drugs if they are considered addicts and if "the amount is the quantity necessary for personal use." But the exemption is not automatic. The new bill drops the "addict" requirement -- automatically allowing any "consumers" to have drugs -- and sets out specific allowable quantities.

Mexican officials declined to explain how the law would work -- including whether drug use in public would be tolerated, or discouraged by other means.

The law was defended by Mexican legislators -- and greeted with glee by U.S. legalization advocates.

"We can't close our eyes to this reality," said Sen. Jorge Zermeno, of Fox's conservative National Action Party. "We cannot continue to fill our jails with people who have addictions."

Ethan Nadelmann, director of the New York-based Drug Policy Alliance, said the bill removed "a huge opportunity for low-level police corruption." In Mexico, police often release people detained for minor drug possession, in exchange for bribes.

Selling all these drugs would remain illegal under the proposed law, unlike the Netherlands, where the sale of marijuana for medical use is legal and it can be bought with a prescription in pharmacies. While Dutch authorities look the other way regarding the open sale of cannabis in designated coffee shops -- something Mexican police seem unlikely to do -- the Dutch have zero tolerance for heroin and cocaine. In both countries, commercial growing of marijuana is outlawed.

In Colombia, a 1994 court ruling decriminalized personal possession of small amounts of cocaine, heroin and other drugs.

The effects in Mexico could be significant, given that the country is rapidly becoming a drug-consuming nation as well as a shipment point for traffickers, and given the number of U.S. students who flock to border cities or resorts like Cancun and Acapulco on vacation.

"This is going to increase addictions in Mexico," said Ulisis Bon, a drug treatment expert in Tijuana, where heroin use is rampant. "A lot of Americans already come here to buy medications they can't get up there ... Just imagine, with heroin."

And these guys are our allies huh? Who the fuck needs enemies? The legalization of pot doesn't really bother me, Holland doesn't seem to damaged by it. But cocaine and heroin are a different story. If you thought to much posion was coming up from Mexico before, wait til it's legal to hand everyone heading up here a little baggy of cocaine. Hey they'll get a whole 10$ to take it to the dealer who mets them, what a plan! What a country! If you think we're carrying a strain now dealing with the various junkies drifting around, wait a bit. Just wait.

[Hotfoot]

Let's face it, Mexico's government isn't exactly one I'd want, but I can see this law making some degree of sense. Why bother flooding their jails with the buyers like we do in the US?

However, I don't see how the hell this helps them focus on getting the cartels, or how they are going to protect their officers against vicious cartel retributions. All this does is allow the dealers windows to get out of jail free. Not that I have the greatest faith in the Mexican law enforcement community in the first place. It's not entirely their fault though, as the cartels are doing some major damage.

Here's a question for everyone: the cartels are murdering law enforcement officers and innocent civilians in order to defend an illegal trade. The money spent towards drugs directly funds their efforts. Why, oh why, should this be encouraged? It looks like Mexico is just making the problem worse. The more money the cartels make, the more people they can hire, the more weapons they can buy, and so on. Isn't our job, first and foremost, to shut these people down? These people shove condoms full of cocaine up the asses of illegals coming across the border and shoot anyone who tries to stop them.

Yeah, let's make THEIR lives easier.

[JEAP]

I remember watching a History Channel special about "Kiki" Camarena, the DEA agent who was killed back in '85. Several officials in the Mexican state police were so deep into the pockets of the cartels that that they killed everyone in a small village in an attempt to throw off the DEA's investigation.

Eh, it was two decades ago but I haven't really heard much in the way of improvement down there. The only thing I see this bill doing is letting the dirty cops get dirtier, giving the cartels an open market in Mexico, and a clear shot to the boarder.

[The Cleric]

Now you'll see dealers surrounded by large groups, each with a legal amount of drugs on them. Can't touch a single one, but it goes down just the same.

[Josh]

Now you'll see dealers surrounded by large groups, each with a legal amount of drugs on them. Can't touch a single one, but it goes down just the same.

It'll mean jack-all if the law decides to get them. If the Federales decide to get somebody, he'll get gotten. If they don't want him, he can carry it by the suitcase-load.

If I really got into my view on this, we'd end up diving over into S&A or P&T territory. We've got two countries fighting over a failed policy.