MEXICO ALLOWS POSSESSION OF DRUGS FOR 'PERSONAL USE'

MEXICO CITY - Mexico enacted a controversial law Thursday
decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine,
heroin and other drugs while encouraging free government treatment
for drug dependency.

The law sets out maximum "personal use" amounts for drugs, also
including LSD and methamphetamine. People detained with those
quantities will no longer face criminal prosecution when the law goes
into effect today.

Anyone caught with drug amounts under the personal-use limit will be
encouraged to seek treatment, and for those caught a third time
treatment is mandatory - although the law does not specify penalties
for noncompliance.

Mexican authorities said the change just recognized the long-standing
practice here of not prosecuting people caught with small amounts of
drugs that they could reasonably claim were for personal use, while
setting rules and limits.

Under previous law, possession of any amount of drugs was punishable
by stiff jail sentences, but there was leeway for addicts caught with
smaller amounts. In practice, nobody was prosecuted and sentenced to
jail for small-time possession, said Bernardo Espino del Castillo,
the coordinator of state offices for the attorney general's office.

"We couldn't charge somebody who was in possession of a dose of a
drug, there was no way ... because the person would claim they were
an addict," he added.

"This person obviously couldn't be charged, not yesterday, not the
day before, not a year ago, but the bad thing was that it was left up
to the discretion of the detective, and it could open the door to
corruption or extortion."

In the past, police sometimes hauled suspects to police stations and
demanded bribes, threatening long jail sentences if people did not pay.

"This is not legalization, this is regulating the issue and giving
citizens greater legal certainty ... for a practice that was already
in place," Espino del Castillo said.

In 2006, the U.S. government publicly criticized a similar bill.
Then-President Vicente Fox sent that law - which did not have a
mandatory treatment provision - back to Congress for reconsideration.

The maximum amount of marijuana considered to be for "personal use"
under the new law is 5 grams - the equivalent of about four joints.
The limit is a half gram for cocaine, the equivalent of about 4
"lines." For other drugs, the limits are 50 milligrams of heroin, 40
milligrams for methamphetamine and 0.015 milligrams for LSD.

The law was approved by Congress before it recessed in late April,
and President Felipe Calderon, who is leading a major offensive
against drug cartels, waited most of the summer before enacting it.

Calderon's original proposal would have required first-time detainees
to complete treatment or face jail time. But the lower house of
Congress, where Calderon's party was short of a majority, weakened the bill.

Mexico has emphasized the need to differentiate drug addicts and
casual users from the violent traffickers whose turf battles have
contributed to the deaths of more than 11,000 people during
Calderon's term. In the face of growing domestic drug use, Mexico has
increased its focus on prevention and drug treatment.

While the United States openly expressed concern about the 2006 law,
this time around it has been more circumspect.

Asked about the new law in July, U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske said
he would adopt a "wait-and-see attitude."

"If the sanction becomes completely nonexistent I think that would be
a concern, but I actually didn't read quite that level of de facto
(decriminalization) in the law," said Kerlikowske, who heads the U.S.
Office of National Drug Control Policy