Mexico set to legalize
 

Do you have any idea what this will do for Mexican tourism in their higher-income cities?
Amsterdam X ten-thousand.

Mexico set to legalize personal amounts of pot, cocaine, heroin
Friday, April 28, 2006; Posted: 10:10 p.m. EDT (02:10 GMT)

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."

It says something when Mexico has more vision and legislative balls than the entire western world.

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."

Good to see he's studying the legislation with an open mind......and it's happening in Mexico, not Minnesota.As far as I know, they have their own government there,and can do as they please. Why should they give a rat's about what some foreign politician who lacks the integrity to put his name to his own pronouncements thinks?

I wonder how this would effect employee drug tests for people living close to the Mexican border? :confused:

3 miles is still a little too far to be claiming a 'contact high'.;)

True, but you could say you were in Mexico for the weekend. Does traces in your test, constitute grounds for dismissal if you consumed it legally? :confused:

I have never heard of "contact high" showing-up on a drug test.

Of course. Regardless of its legallity where you consumed it, if your company has anti-drug policies then you should be fired.

Of course you have every right to circumvent a company drug test.

So if your company decides to have an anti-donut policy, and you obtain and consume one legally and in your own time, should they fire you?

In my world, the company is buying my services by the hour.They stop paying me the moment I punch out, so until I punch in again, as long as I am sober and ready to work when I swipe my employee card, what I do in my own time is none of their business.

I agree, my time... none of their damn business.

It would be nice if it worked that way.

Meanwhile, I think I heard on the radio this morning that Fox didn't sign the bill into law. Is that right? The kids were being loud, so I didn't really hear the story.

It still won't convince any of their people to stay home.

I don't see the use, really.

Not much use to us but it would help cut down the extortion of Mexicans by the constabulary. ;)

People could deffinitely save money by taking a vacation in Mexico instead of going to Amsterdam.

Drug testing problem : Dont take a job that has drug testing. Be a teacher and spend your summers in mexico :)

Well, on the bright side, this will solve the immigration problem.

This will escalate the US-Mexico tension to the point where the president, citing his authority as commander-in-chief of the 'War on Drugs' will authorize the invasion of Mexico, making it the 51st state.

All Mexicans will become defacto US citizens, solving most of the immigration problem.

Actually Rich, that might not be a bad idea, really. Then we can take Puerto Rico and bitch slap them just for funsies and make em a state already!

I think you may be onto something here! :D

You wanna know what REALLY persuaded Fox that this bill could not be made law? The feedback from the travel industry and tourism business sank it ;) It has been all over the news here, and not just from church groups, that nobody will give their kids money for Spring Break and people will not book tours if they know they are staying in a place where heroin can be used freely by the people who are supposed to be taking care of you while you are down there.

He is more of an idiot each day, I can see why he likes Dubya so much.

Mexican President Rejects Congressional Measure Codifying "Personal Use" Limits For Cannabis, Other Controlled Substances

Mexico City, Mexico: Mexican President Vincente Fox yesterday rejected legislation that sought to clarify the quantities of cannabis and other controlled substances that "consumers" may possess without facing criminal penalties. Fox abruptly abandoned his support for the measure after US bureaucrats at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the State Department denounced the proposal, saying that it could promote "drug tourism."

As passed by Congress last Friday, the proposal set specific limits on the amount of cannabis (five grams) and other drugs allowable under federal law. Mexican law already exempts criminal penalties for those individuals who possess minor quantities of illicit substances for personal use; however, the law fails to define what amounts constitute personal use. As a result, police and judges must decide on a case-by-case basis whether to punish citizens caught possessing minor amounts of illicit drugs.

The proposed measure also authorized state and local police to enforce drug trafficking laws. Under current law, only federal police (about five percent of Mexico's law enforcement personnel) may arrest individuals suspected of selling drugs.

President Fox rejected the bill on Wednesday, stating, "Congress ... [needs] ... to make it absolutely clear in our country [that] the possession of drugs and their consumption [is], and will continue to be, a criminal offense." Officials from the US State Department and the White Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) had met with Mexico's ambassador earlier this week urging the President to "review the legislation and to avoid the perception that drug use would be tolerated in Mexico and to prevent drug tourism."

Fox said that he would send the bill back to Congress with proposed amendments.

In recent years, US officials have voiced similar disapproval against legislative proposals to liberalize marijuana and other illicit drug possession penalties in Canada, Jamaica, and Australia all of which eventually stalled due at least in part to US opposition.

For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, or Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500.

Or it could have been the cops and prosecutors who would no longer be able to remind wayward rich American kids that they had the discretion on whether to charge them or not.

That would represent an extreme loss of personal income for them, I believe.

Well... if they legalized it would have represented one to me... there is balance in the universe.