Why Mexico Will Become #1 Travel Destination.
" It's taken a long time, but it's refreshing to see a more enlightened, and progressive approach being taken. I feel that whatever substance an individual chooses to injest is their own personal decision to make, and is their right. They are entitled to this choice, as long as it doesn't jeopardise others or infringe upon their rights.
Mexico Set to Decriminalize Some Drug Use
- By MARK STEVENSON, Associated Press Writer
Friday, April 28, 2006
(04-28) 16:10 PDT MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AP) --
Mexico's Congress approved a bill Friday 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 Senate) 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 in the early morning hours by Mexico's Senate on a
53-26 vote with one abstention, has already 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-sized 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 countryis rapidly becoming a drug-consuming nation as well as a shipment pointfor 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."
______
Associated Press Writer Julie Watson contributed to this report.
posted by LAURELiCIOUS @ 12:32 AM
0 comments
