MEXICANS' VIEWS SPLIT ON DRUG PLAN

One Side Fears Decriminalization Will Tempt Youth; Other Insists
Target Should Be Dealers

CIUDAD NEZAHUALCOYOTL, MEXICO - Mexican lawmakers have vowed to rescue
a controversial law that would decriminalize small amounts of drugs
for personal consumption, despite a presidential veto and outcry from
U.S. officials.

The reason: They say the measures are crucial to prevent Mexico from
becoming a huge drug consumer -- like its northern neighbor.

While per capita drug use in Mexico is only about a fourth that of the
United States, the problem is growing at an alarming rate,
particularly among teenagers.

"Ten years ago, we didn't have this problem in schools, but now it's
out of control," said Salvador Diaz Rodriguez, a former school doctor
who directs a new rehab center in Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl, a
crime-ridden satellite city on the eastern outskirts of the Mexican
capital.

The surge in drug use -- and rampant violence sparked by rival gangs of
dealers -- spurred the Mexican Congress to pass reforms in late April
designed to help police differentiate between addicts and criminals.
The bill would expand on existing laws, which protect addicts and
"one-time" users from prosecution, specifying the maximum "personal
use" quantities for each drug. Those detained with minimum quantities
would be sent to drug rehabilitation, not jail.

For the first time, the law also would allow local and state police to
work alongside federal agents in combating street-level dealers,
increasing the anti-drug force from 20,000 to 400,000 agents.

Fox's Reversal

President Vicente Fox applauded the measures initially then abruptly
sent them back to Congress on May 3, urging legislators to clarify
that "in our country the possession and consumption of drugs are and
will continue being crimes."

He was seen as bowing to pressure from U.S. officials, who warned that
the reforms would increase domestic drug abuse in Mexico and encourage
Americans to head south of the border for drug sprees -- charges the
bill's supporters deny.

"These reforms don't intend to legalize drugs but rather combat the
sale of drugs on our streets," said Jose Angel Cordova Villalobos,
president of the health commission in the lower house of the Mexican
Congress.

He and other legislators held a forum May 11 to rally support for
reviving the drug bill. They also are threatening to call a special
session of Congress to override Fox's veto with a two-thirds majority
vote.

They argue that the reforms are too important to "just be tossed out"
if Mexico hopes to stem rising tides of drug consumption and violence.

The proposed reforms call for increased government funding for
prevention and for building new drug rehabilitation centers. In 1990,
4,400 addicts turned to government outpatient clinics for help. Last
year, 24,000 addicts mobbed the centers, according to Lino
Diaz-Barriga, director of prevention and addictions for the federal
network of clinics.

Government Involvement

The need for more treatment centers is obvious in Ciudad
Nezahualcoyotl. The teeming slum of 1.2 million people ranked third
last year in the number of addicts seeking help in government
outpatient clinics, most of them for cocaine.

The problem has gotten so bad that the city government has diverted
scarce funds to build a new in-patient rehab center -- one of about
five run by the government nationwide.

Previously, most residents sought help in any of the hundreds of
anexos, low-cost private rehab centers in people's houses that are
considered bastions of abuse.

A 2004 municipal government study reported that some patients at the
anexos had been tied up and beaten, and "in the worst cases, they
suffered rape or injuries leading to death."

Mexican law now requires private treatment centers nationwide to
undergo government inspections.

The government center in Nezahualcoyotl, which opened in March, is
aimed at providing a more humane treatment option for poor addicts.

"For us, they're not criminals," said Amelia Contreras, a social
worker at the gleaming two-story clinic, which is a lemon yellow oasis
in a sea of crumbling concrete tenements. "They're people who have
fallen onto hard times and who are screaming for help."

Drugs More Accessible

Most patients are teenagers who recently got lured into drugs. Others,
like Ricardo Hernandez, a 24-year-old crack addict, have a long history.

"I've been a rebel all my life," he said, describing how he first got
into drugs at age 12 after he was sexually abused by a family friend.

From then on, he was in and out of anexos, where he says he was
chained to a concrete block so he wouldn't escape. He also spent a
year as a crack dealer and another in jail for armed robbery.

"But now I have something to live for," he said, showing off a
Polaroid photo of his wife and 1-year-old daughter.

Despite the enormous demand for drug rehabilitation in Nezahualcoyotl,
the center limits in-patient care to addicts from ages 15 to 25,
considered the biggest risk group.

Officials and experts blame rising drug use on a shift in the way
Mexican traffickers are paid -- increasingly they receive drugs instead
of money. As a result, prices have plummeted, making even cocaine
accessible to the poor.

Many professionals who work with addicts warn the proposed reforms
could exacerbate drug use by emboldening non-users to give drugs a
try.

"It puts drug possession on a level with illegal parking," said
Otoniel Nava, a psychologist who directs a network of private clinics
in Mexico City and nearby Cuernavaca.

He argued that Mexico was not ready to liberalize drugs. "Saying it's
OK to carry around drugs," he said, "is like giving a kid a loaded
gun."