AMID U.S. PRESSURE, FOX BALKS AT DRUG DECRIMINALIZATION BILL

MEXICO CITY - U.S. officials welcomed Mexican President Vicente Fox's
decision not to sign a drug criminalization bill that some had warned
could result in "drug tourism" in this country and increased
availability of narcotics in American border communities.

Fox reversed course and said he was sending the bill back to Congress
for changes, just one day after his office had said he would sign
into law the measure, which would have dropped criminal penalties for
possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs.

Fox's statement said he will ask for corrections "to make it
absolutely clear in our country, the possession of drugs and their
consumption are, and will continue to be, a criminal offense."

San Diego, California, Mayor Jerry Sanders applauded Fox's decision.
On Friday, Sanders said he was "appalled" by the bill, saying it
could increase drug availability north of the border.

"I'm glad that he's listened to the many voices opposing the bill and
made changes that will make good enforcement and not legalize drugs,"
Sanders said. "We have been a partner with Mexico in fighting against
illegal drugs, and this will only help in the long-term in that relationship."

San Diego sits a short drive from the border town of Tijuana, Mexico.

Earlier Wednesday, U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Judith Bryan said that
U.S. officials had "urged Mexican representatives to review the
legislation urgently, to avoid the perception that drug use would be
tolerated in Mexico, and to prevent drug tourism."

That was apparently a reference to concern that the measure could
increase drug use by border visitors and U.S. students who flock to
Mexico on vacation.

Bryan said the U.S. government wants Mexico "to ensure that all
persons found in possession of any quantity of illegal drugs be
prosecuted or be sent into mandatory drug treatment programs."

Fox's statement did not mention the U.S. criticism, but did
acknowledge that the bill had been controversial.

"With sensitivity toward the opinions expressed by various sectors of
society, the administration has decided to suggest changes to the
content of the bill," the statement said.

On Tuesday, Fox's spokesman had called the bill "an advance" and
pledged the president would sign it.

Congress has adjourned for the summer, and when it comes back, it
will have new members following the July 2 elections, which also make
Fox a lame duck.

However, Sen. Jorge Zermeno, of Fox's conservative National Action
Party - a supporter of the bill - said he thought Congress would be
open to changing the legislation to delete a clause that extends to
all "consumers" the exemption from prosecution that was originally
meant to cover only recognized drug addicts.

"The word 'consumer' can be eliminated so that the only exemption
clause would be for drug addicts," Zermeno told The Associated Press.
"There's still time to get this through."

The bill contained many points that experts said were positive. It
empowered state and local police - not just federal officers - to go
after drug dealers, stiffened some penalties and closed loopholes
that dealers had long used to escape prosecution.

But Mexico's top police official, Eduardo Medina Mora said
legislators had changed Fox's original proposal by inserting a
controversial table laying out maximum amounts of drugs considered
for "personal use."

Current Mexican law allows judges latitude to drop charges if
suspects can prove they are addicts and the quantity they were caught
with is small enough to be considered "for personal use," or if they
are first-time offenders.

The new bill would have made the decriminalization automatic, allowed
"consumers" as well as addicts to have drugs, and delineated specific
allowable quantities, which do not appear in the current law.

Under the law, consumers could have legally possessed up to 25
milligrams of heroin, 5 grams of marijuana (about one-fifth of an
ounce, or about four joints), or 0.5 grams of cocaine - the
equivalent of about four "lines," or half the standard street-sale quantity.