MEXICO NOT SERIOUS ABOUT WAR ON DRUGS

Many local and national officials in Mexico have proven down through
the years that they are as interested in waging war against illegal
drugs as they are in helping to stop illegal immigrants from getting
into this country. That is to say, not at all.

New evidence of the Mexican regime's lackadaisical attitude toward
illegal drugs is being provided — in the form of a proposed law that
would legalize possession of small quantities of many of them.
Mexican legislators already have passed a bill doing that. Though
President Vicente Fox has not yet signed the measure into law, he is
expected to do so.

If Fox approves, the new law would allow possession of small
quantities of marijuana, LSD, "Ecstasy," hallucinogenic mushrooms,
cocaine, heroin and other drugs for "personal use." Proponents of the
measure say that it is intended to make it easier for Mexican
authorities to prosecute those who sell large quantities of illegal
drugs. Their explanation: Somehow, the new law would make it more
difficult for drug dealers to bribe police and judges. Don't bother
trying to find the logic in that; there isn't any.

Mexican law enforcement officials who are bucking the trend and
attempting to crack down on illegal drugs cannot understand. "On one
side, they're asking us to fight it. On the other, we have to allow
consumption," one Mexican police officer complained to The Associated Press.

Precisely. In effect, the bill, if signed by Fox, will encourage use
of formerly illegal drugs in Mexico. That means it also will
encourage sale of a whole menu of drugs that remain illegal, even in
small quantities, in this country.

The law's effect would be to make it more difficult, not less, to
catch and prosecute those who sell illegal drugs. People caught
possessing legal quantities of them would have no incentive to
expose, much less testify against, their suppliers.

Mexico would become a mecca for foreigners, including Americans,
planning vacations centered around the use of illegal drugs. Those
willing to take the risk of bringing them into this country would
find half the battle — obtaining drugs while in Mexico — already won.

For many years, U.S. drug enforcement officials have complained — in
private, at least — that Mexican authorities were not cooperating
with them. The new drug bill on Fox's desk is merely official
confirmation that Mexico never really was an ally in the war against drugs.