MEXICO WILL DECRIMINALIZE SOME DRUG USE

MEXICO CITY -- Could Mexican cities become Latin Amsterdams, flooded by
drug users seeking penalty-free tokes and toots?

That is the fear, if somewhat overstated, of some Mexican officials,
especially in northern border states that serve as a mecca for
underage American drinkers.

The Mexican legislature has voted quietly to decriminalize the
possession of small amounts of pot, cocaine, methamphetamine and other
drugs, an effort that in the past has proved highly
controversial.

There has been less protest this time around, in part because there
hasn't been much publicity.

Some critics have suggested that easing the punishment on drug
possession sends the wrong message at a time when President Felipe
Calderon is waging a bloody war on major narcotics traffickers. The
battle between law enforcement authorities and drug suspects has
claimed more than 11,000 lives in the past 2.5 years.

But it was Calderon himself who proposed the decriminalization
legislation.

His reasoning: It makes sense to distinguish between small-time users
and big-time dealers, while re-targeting major crime-fighting
resources away from the former and toward the latter and their drug
lord bosses.

The important thing is ... that consumers are not treated as
criminals," said Rafael Ruiz Mena, secretary general of the National
Institute of Penal Sciences. "It is a public health problem, not a
penal problem."

The legislation was approved at the height of a swine-flu outbreak in
Mexico that dominated the world's attention. Meeting at times behind
closed doors -- the better to prevent the spread of disease, officials
said -- the lower and upper houses of Congress passed the bill on the
last days of April. It awaits Calderon's signature.

The bill says users caught with small amounts -- five grams of
marijuana, 500 milligrams of cocaine -- clearly intended for "personal
and immediate use" will not be criminally prosecuted. They will be
told of available clinics and encouraged to enter a rehabilitation
program.

As many as 40 milligrams of methamphetamine, a synthetic and
especially harmful drug, are permitted, as are as many as 50
milligrams of heroin.

In May of 2006, then-President Vicente Fox, from Calderon's right-wing
party, vetoed a similar bill Congress had approved and that he
initially supported. He backed down only under pressure from
Washington, D.C., where the Bush administration complained
decriminalization for even small amounts could increase drug use.
Political implications

But with less than a month to go before critical mid-term elections in
which his party is struggling to maintain control of Congress,
Calderon cannot afford to be seen as bowing to the U.S., analysts say.
Already under intense criticism for the drug-related violence
terrifying parts of the country, Calderon needs to maintain good
relations with Congress, where much of the opposition voted in favor
of the decriminalization initiative. He can't suddenly go back on his
own bill.

And so, political observers say, he probably will sign it into law.
Calderon's office did not comment for this story.

So far, the U.S. government has not publicly objected to the bill.
Michele Leonhart, acting director of the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration, however, said in April that legalization of drugs
"would be a failed law enforcement strategy for both the U.S. and Mexico."

Mexican government officials stress they are not talking about
legalization, but decriminalization. Until now, courts decided on a
case-by-case basis whether and how to punish first-time offenders. And
standard criteria for quantities hadn't existed.

Mexico is woefully underequipped to handle a booming drug-abuse
problem. Recently, domestic consumption has soared. A 2007 study by
the government found the number of "addicts" doubled in the previous
five years. Critics cite violence

The decriminalization legislation has received criticism from several
officials of northern border states, who fear so-called "drug
tourists" will flock to towns and cities already besieged by violence.

Allowing the carrying of certain amounts of drugs will create more
consumers," said Oscar Villalobos Chavez, social development secretary
for the State of Chihuahua, which borders Texas.

Mary Ellen Hernandez, director of the Rio Grande Safe Communities
Coalition in El Paso, across the border from blood-soaked Juarez, said
she worried decriminalization would lure Americans into a drug world
they aren't prepared for and increase violence on both sides of the
border. "Already, the drugs that don't come over into the U.S. are
being handed out by dealers to younger and younger children (in
Mexico), 8-, 9-, 10-year-olds, hooking them," said Hernandez, whose
agency specializes in drug prevention. "And then (the youths) steal to
feed the habit."

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Venezuela aims to cancel drug patents, make own medicines

Venezuelan officials plan to invalidate some pharmaceutical patents
and allow domestic manufacturers to produce licensed medicines, an
action that could cause shortages and scare off foreign investment,
the Associated Press reports.

Edgar Salas, president of Venezuela's pharmaceutical business chamber,
warned that abolishing patents could prompt the world's largest drug
manufacturers to stop exporting medicines to Venezuela.

"This could create obstacles to importing the newest medicines," Salas
said.

Commerce Minister Eduardo Saman -- a close confidant of President Hugo
Chavez -- announced on Saturday that Venezuela's government would annul
patents on some medicines under a reform of existing intellectual
property laws.

Saman said the measure is aimed at making the interests of powerful
drug companies secondary to the needs of Venezuelans suffering from
diseases such as cancer or AIDS.