MEXICAN OFFICIALS SAY DRUG BILL MISINTERPRETED BY U.S.

MEXICO CITY -- Mexican President Vicente Fox said he wants lawmakers
to clarify language in a controversial bill that would drop criminal
penalties for small amounts of drugs, but his office on Thursday
denied that he did so under U.S. pressure.

Fox sent the bill back to Mexico's Congress for revisions Wednesday.

The United States had objected to the legislation in talks with Fox's
government. On Thursday, U.S. officials welcomed the move by the
Mexican leader but said the idea to ask for changes was his. "This
was Fox's own decision, 100%. He showed strong leadership," said Tom
Riley, a spokesman for the White House Office of National Drug
Control Policy. "Mexico is a good partner in the war against drugs."

Fox had previously backed the bill, which was intended to allow
Mexican police to concentrate anti-narcotics efforts on dealers and
drug lords and to prevent small-time drug users from clogging
prisons. As recently as Tuesday, Fox spokesman Ruben Aguilar said the
legislation was "an advance in combating narcotics trafficking" and
would be signed by Fox today.

The bill would have turned the possession of small quantities of
drugs -- up to 5 grams of marijuana, a gram of cocaine and limited
amounts of heroin, Ecstasy, LSD, hallucinogenic mushrooms and other
drugs -- into crimes that don't require jail time. Offenders still
would have faced other penalties, such as fines.

Eduardo Medina Mora, Mexico's top-ranking law enforcement officer as
secretary of public security, said the law had been misinterpreted.
It was intended to aid the drug war by diverting resources toward
catching narcotics traffickers and punishing them more severely, he said.

U.S. officials met Wednesday with Mexico's ambassador to Washington
and expressed concern that the law would encourage drug use by
Mexicans and foreign tourists. "They urged (Mexico) to clarify the
law so it would not make it attractive to those who would go to
Mexico to use drugs," said Judith Bryan, a spokeswoman for the U.S.
Embassy in Mexico City.

The bill made it through Mexico's Congress with little fanfare but
quickly evoked outrage in the USA.

Critics said the legislation could bring about "drug tourism."

On Tuesday, San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders described the legislation
as "appallingly stupid" in a meeting with a Mexican diplomat,
according to the Associated Press. Sanders warned that it would turn
border cities such as Tijuana into versions of Amsterdam, where a
youth drug culture has flourished around marijuana and hashish coffee shops.

Ron Brooks, president of the National Narcotic Officers'
Associations' Coalition, said the bill "makes drugs more available to
any vacationer to Mexico. Your kid goes down to party for a few days
over spring break and comes back strung out."

Jorge Chabat, who studies the illegal drug trade as a researcher at
the Center for Economic Research and Teaching in Mexico City, said
it's clear that U.S. opposition influenced Fox. "Of course Fox was
pressured. He probably thought to himself, 'In the midst of
everything going on with immigration reform, I don't need a fight now
with the U.S.,' " Chabat said.

It's unclear when Mexican lawmakers will review the bill and make any
revisions.

Fox is set to leave office in September. Mexico holds presidential
elections July 2. He is barred by the constitution from seeking another term.

In his statement, Fox said he wanted Congress to revise the bill "to
make it absolutely clear that, in our country, the possession of
drugs and their consumption are, and will continue to be, a criminal offense."

The bill, as written, would have given local and state police
authority to make drug arrests, now a job for federal police. It also
would have given Mexican states the right to jail offenders for up to
48 hours and to immediately deport foreigners possessing drugs.
Penalties for some offenses would have been increased.

In the past decade, Mexico has become the major transit and staging
point for drug smuggling into the USA. Last year, more than 1,500
people were killed in drug-related violence in Mexico as cartels
battled for control of smuggling routes, Chabat said.