FOX'S REVERSAL ON LAW LEGALIZING DRUGS RELIEVES SOME IN EL PASO

El Paso Mayor John Cook, anti-drug advocates in El Paso and others
around the nation applauded Mexico President Vicente Fox's decision
not to sign into law a bill that would have legalized the possession
of small amounts of drugs and possibly led to drug tourism in Mexico.

"It's a relief," Richard Perkins, executive deputy director for
Aliviane, a substance-abuse prevention and treatment center in El
Paso. "We have a lot of young people who go to clubs, and sometimes
they don't make the wisest of choices. With the availability of
drugs, they could develop addictions."

Cook said Thursday that decriminalizing recreational drug use in
Mexico would be a "big step backward."

"My personal opinion is that this is probably not a good direction
Mexico is taking. There should be zero tolerance, a 'just say no'
policy," he said. "There is no such thing as recreational use of heroin."

Under the law, consumers could have legally possessed up to 25
milligrams of heroin, 5 grams of marijuana (about four joints) or 0.5
grams of cocaine. The bill was intended to free police and the courts
to focus on large-scale drug trafficking.

Fox said Wednesday that he was sending the bill back to Congress,
asking for corrections "to make it absolutely clear in our country,
the possession of drugs and their consumption are, and will continue
to be, a criminal offense."

The bill contained many points that experts said were positive. It
empowered state and local police -- not just federal officers -- to
go after drug dealers, stiffened some penalties and closed loopholes
that dealers had long used to escape prosecution.