MEXICO SHIFTS TACTICS IN THE DRUG BATTLE

Allowing Possession of Small Amounts Frees Resources for Fighting
Cartels and Traffickers, the Government Says.

Mired in a bloody battle with major drug traffickers, Mexico is
quietly eliminating jail time for possession of small amounts of
marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs.

The government of President Felipe Calderon says removing the
penalties will help in its fight against traffickers by freeing up
law enforcement resources and shifting attention from minor consumers
to big-time dealers and drug lords. The law also provides for free
treatment for addicts.

But critics say decriminalization sends the wrong message amid a drug
war that has claimed more than 11,000 lives since late 2006. It will
encourage consumption and add to Mexico's fast-growing ranks of
addicts, opponents say.

With the law, Mexico joins a trend throughout Latin America of easing
penalties for small-time drug use. But Mexico's law goes further than
most in that it includes substances such as heroin, LSD and methamphetamine.

The law, which went into effect last week, did not stir huge
controversy in Mexico, and Washington has not taken a public stance
on it. But officials in some states that border the U.S. are worried
that they will be flooded with American "drug tourists" seeking a
penalty-free high.

That was not the fear Saturday on Tijuana's legendary Avenida
Revolucion, the main tourist drag clogged with bars, restaurants and
souvenir shops. Tourism has plummeted because of drug-fueled
violence, the economic crisis and the recent flu epidemic, but no one
was predicting that liberal drug laws would bring the tourists back.

"People who want drugs have always been able to just go down the
street and buy them," said Adan Cardenas, a waiter at the Mystery
Bar, where it's all-you-can-drink for $15.

The tourist police who patrol Tijuana said their marching orders
remain the same: Anyone seen consuming drugs, whatever the amount, is
taken to police headquarters.

"It's not like you can shoot up on the street or smoke a joint on the
corner. If they catch you, you're still going to the police station,"
said Jack Doron, president of a downtown merchants association. He
said it's still illegal to sell drugs, so there is no talk of opening
Amsterdam-style hashish bars.

People caught with small amounts clearly intended for "personal and
immediate use" and who are not known members of cartels will not be
criminally prosecuted. They will be told of available clinics, and
encouraged to enter a rehabilitation program. Rehab is mandatory when
a user is caught a third time.

The permitted amounts include 5 grams of marijuana and 500 milligrams
of cocaine -- enough for four or five pot cigarettes or four lines of
coke -- and up to 40 milligrams of methamphetamine and 50 milligrams of heroin.

With the law, Calderon risks rankling his closest ally in the drug
war: the U.S. Mexico's previous attempts to legalize drugs proved
very controversial. When the Mexican Congress approved a similar
decriminalization law in 2006, then-President Vicente Fox was forced
to veto it under U.S. pressure.

In April, when the new law was making its way through the Mexican
legislature, Michele Leonhart, acting director of the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration, said legalization "would be a failed law
enforcement strategy for both the U.S. and Mexico."

Visiting Mexico in July, however, the United States' so-called drug
czar, Gil Kerlikowske, said he would take a "wait-and-see" attitude.
If sanctions were "completely nonexistent . . . that would be a
concern," he added.

Still, Calderon's government has shown signs of being worried about
ruffling feathers in Washington. There was no official announcement
that Calderon had signed the law; it was merely published in the
official government paper of record.

The law was approved by Congress in late April, at the height of the
flu outbreak that had grabbed the country's attention. And when The
Times wrote about the law in June, Calderon's office would not discuss it.

The law requires local and state authorities to join in cracking down
on illegal drug sales instead of leaving enforcement completely in
the hands of federal authorities, and that in turn could bolster the
broader war against the cartels, analysts said.

"The good thing about the law is that it sets up federal and local
cooperation," said Samuel Gonzalez, an analyst who served as Mexico's
top anti-drug prosecutor in the 1990s. But, he said, it doesn't go
far enough in setting up prevention and treatment programs, and,
consequently, could lead to increased drug consumption.

Many in Mexico applauded the legislation because it shifts minor drug
use away from courts and jails and into the realm of public health.

In practice, minor consumption was rarely punished in Mexico and
often left to the discretion of a court or an arresting officer,
which in turn led to corruption when police officers used the arrests
to extort money from the offenders. Fewer than 15% of people arrested
for possessing small amounts of drugs since late 2006 were charged
with a crime, according to the attorney general's office.

But Mexico is also under-equipped to deal with a growing addiction
problem. Government studies estimate that the number of addicts in
Mexico has doubled since 2002, and clinics and rehab centers can
handle only a fraction of them.

The law has won praise from several opposition political parties here
and pro-legalization groups in the U.S.

"This new law is a step in the right direction," Ethan Nadelmann,
executive director of the U.S.-based Drug Policy Alliance Network,
said in a statement. "Mexico is trying to make the right choices on
law enforcement priorities."

Opponents include the Roman Catholic Church and a number of experts
in social work, addiction treatment and at-risk youths. Permitting
any use, they argued, implicitly condones the sale and purchase of
drugs and results in more earnings for the big cartels the government
is battling.