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| Mexico's Fox To OK Drug Decriminalization Law |
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Posted by CN Staff on May 02, 2006 at 10:06:28 PT By Reuters Source: Reuters 
Mexico City -- Mexico's president will approve a law that decriminalizes possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine and other drugs to concentrate on fighting violent narco gangs, the government said on Tuesday.President Vicente Fox will not oppose the bill, passed by senators last week, presidential spokesman Ruben Aguilar told reporters, despite likely tensions with the United States. "The president is going to sign that law, there would be no objection," he said. "It appears to be a good law and an advance in combating narcotics trafficking." The approval of the legislation, passed earlier by the lower house of Congress, surprised Washington, which counts on Mexico's support in its war against gangs that move massive quantities of cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamines through Mexico to U.S. consumers. Under the law, police will not penalize people for possessing up to 5 grams of marijuana, 5 grams of opium, 25 milligrams of heroin. Nor does the law penalize possession of 500 milligrams of cocaine — enough for a few lines. The legal changes will also decriminalize the possession of limited quantities of LSD, hallucinogenic mushrooms, amphetamines, ecstasy and peyote — a psychotropic cactus found in Mexico's northern deserts. Hundreds of people, including many police officers, have been killed in Mexico in the past year as drug cartels battle for control of lucrative smuggling routes into the United States. The violence has raged mostly in northern Mexico but in recent months has spread south to cities such as vacation resort Acapulco. While likely to complicate relations with the U.S. government, the legislation has drawn relatively little attention from the media in Mexico, where drug use is less common than in the United States. Aguilar did not say when Fox would sign the bill. Under current law, it is up to local judges and police to decide on a case-by-case basis whether people should be prosecuted for possessing small quantities of drugs. Source: Reuters (Wire) Related Articles: Mexican Drug Bill Worries Police Mexico Proposes Decriminalizing Pot and Cocaine Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #5 posted by Celaya on May 03, 2006 at 11:29:05 PT |
| http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/2006050 [...] *** MEXICO CITY – Stung by opposition [from north of the border, of course] to a bill that would permit the possession of small quantities of narcotics, a top Mexican senator said yesterday the legislation will be toughened to reassure critics that Mexico is not opening its doors to drug users. Oh, well. So much for Mexican sovereignty. *** Karen Tandy, the head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, met yesterday in Mexico City with Public Security Minister Eduardo Medina-Mora. Baja California Gov. Eugenio Elorduy called Medina-Mora to express his concern. The Grand Inquisitor unleashes her wrath. *** Also, U.S. officials met with representatives of the Fox government in Washington on Monday and “urged them to clarify the law so it would not make it attractive to those who would go to Mexico to use drugs,” said Judith Bryan, press attache for the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. It's another sorry comment on prohibition that its fanatics are so rabid, they not only don't want anyone consuming "illegal" drugs in the U.S., they feel they are justified in dictating to other countries what people can do there. "How dare some U.S. citizen be able to escape our witch hunt by leaving the country!!" *** Sen. Jorge Zermeño, a member of Fox's National Action Party who heads the Senate's justice committee, said the controversy boils down to one word – “user.”... “Now, it looks to everyone like we are legalizing, that we are authorizing people to carry these quantities of drugs because they are users. We have to eliminate the word 'user' so that only those people who can show that they have an addiction, who have a medical prescription, can possess these quantities.” So, what this really boils down to, is U.S. prohibitionists are objecting to letting people consume "drugs," mostly marijuana of course, without being labeled as an "addict." i.e. - deviant, social outcast, scum of the earth, etc. All the Scarlet Letter industries have got their feathers ruffled. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by b4daylight on May 02, 2006 at 23:44:53 PT |
| FOM it is happening the wall is coming down. This is enourmous news over here.
everyone
Mexico is very different than Canada. Remeber Mexico fought the US only not so long ago. The real problem is drug money is paying off the police. They need a way to stem the black market of drugs. When if you go the black market goes all the way to water. So drugs as you guess have a huge value. Mexico has a huge secular economy. This I bet is exaclty what Fox said. That and Marijuania is mexican, Cannabis Stavia is dutch, and the rest of the world grows hemp. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by PainWithNoInsurance on May 02, 2006 at 15:19:10 PT |
| I don't know what the answer is for highly addictive drugs, but I think the best solution is to help people that are victims of addiction with clinics and information. That would involve educated people in the field of drug addiction treatment instead of uneducated prison guards like the USA handles the problem. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by MikeEEEEE on May 02, 2006 at 14:59:41 PT |
| Another crack in the wall. The impact of the FDA 4/20 (middle finger) surprise does not compare to this news. Expect more countries to follow. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by FoM on May 02, 2006 at 10:11:57 PT |
| I wonder how this administration will take this. They sure gave Canada a lot of grief over wanting to decriminalize marijuana. [ Post Comment ] |
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