DRUG BILL WORRIES MEXICAN POLICE, TOURISM OPERATORS

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AP) - Police and business owners from Mexico's
beaches to border cities worried Sunday that a measure passed to
decriminalize possession of cocaine, heroin and other drugs could
attract droves of tourists solely looking to get high.

Mexican and U.S. government officials insist the full text of the law
eliminates legal hurdles to prosecuting drug crimes large and small.
But it also lays out specific amounts of all kinds of drugs _
including marijuana and ecstasy _ that can be possessed for personal use.

President Vicente Fox has yet to sign the bill, but his office
praised it shortly after it was passed by Congress in a late-night
session Friday.

In Juarez, which borders El Paso, Texas, the banner newspaper
headlines trumpeted word of the plan Sunday.

Raul Martinez, a 58-year-old waiter at the popular border-area bar
the Kentucky Club, said he was concerned about the potential impact
on U.S. teens _ who already swarm this city's bars and clubs looking
for cheap drinks.

"I worry for the kids of Texas, the kids of Juarez, I worry for all
the kids," Martinez said.

His greatest fear, he said, would be the temptation to try hard-core
drugs: "If the United States made little bits (of drugs) legal, I
would feel the same."

While it's unclear how the proposed law would work, Mexican police
could still apparently detain people for consuming or carrying small
amounts of drugs in public, but the only punishment would be a
referral for treatment or inclusion on a registry of "addicts."

"On one side, they're asking us to fight it," Jose Valencia, a police
officer in Mexico City's tourist-friendly Zona Rosa district said of
drug use. "On the other, we have to allow consumption."

Mexican law already left open the possibility of dropping charges
against people caught with drugs if they are considered addicts and
if "the amount is the quantity necessary for personal use." The new
bill drops the "addict" requirement _ automatically allowing any
"consumers" to have drugs _ and sets out specific allowable quantities.

Mexico City-based security analyst and former Pentagon official Ana
Maria Salazar said the law would make it easier to convict street
corner drug pushers because it sets limits for personal possession,
thereby taking discretion on whether to press charges out of the
hands of judges and prosecutors who often take bribes.

"All of those who think this legalizes drugs in Mexico, not only are
they wrong but they are going to get in a lot of trouble if they come
here and try to use drugs," Salazar said. "It's designed to go after
the smaller groups of drug smugglers."

In Washington, the State Department has taken a similar view. Mexican
lawmakers who voted in favor of the bill say it also will keep
small-time addicts out of prison and allow police to focus on busting
top drug lords.

Few places have been more devastated by drug violence than another
border city, Nuevo Laredo, across the Rio Grande from Laredo, Texas.
There, anti-drug agents say a pair of rival drug gangs battling for
control of lucrative smuggling corridors into U.S. territory have
been waging a bloody war for control since early 2004.

Higinio Ibarra, head of a business organization in downtown Nuevo
Laredo, said the measure might entice U.S. tourists to cross in
Mexico, but "they won't be the best kind of tourists."

So far this year, eight police officers have been shot dead in
drug-related slayings in Nuevo Laredo.

"Here things are very tense and many of our compatriots have died,"
said a police officer who asked only to be identified as Jose. "What
will happen if we have to concede them the right to use drugs?"

Shining shoes for tourists, Elipio Rodiriguez said drugs were already
everywhere in Nuevo Laredo.

"There by the bridge (to the U.S.) anyone can do drugs," he said.
"Police always patrol there, by those who are selling, and nothing
ever happens. Do you think something will change now?"

But others were more open to the possibility of decriminalization.

Reitse Beek, a 22-year-old Dutch student, said he and several friends
had to drive around on a recent trip to Chetumal on the Yucatan
peninsula so they could smoke hashish.

He said legalization of marijuana was a good idea because it
accommodates travelers who smoke it but are forced to take extreme
precautions to avoid getting caught by police who demand bribes.

In Caribbean resort of Cancun, Roberto Collado, a tourist from Puerto
Rico, said of Mexico's Congress: "I hope they don't come to regret
what they've done."

"A lot of criminal problems are caused by these kinds of drugs," Collado said.

But Jesus Almaguer, president of Cancun's Hotel Association, said
"those who consume drugs and visit our city already know how to obtain them."

"Mexico will not become a drug destination," he said.

Bruce Smith, a Canadian tourist visiting the ruins of an Aztec temple
in Mexico City's historic downtown, said the country's decision to
decriminalize drugs is worth a try.

"It's far enough away from Canada so we'll have an experiment," said
Smith, 62. "If it's a disaster, we won't do it. If it works, fine."

___

Associated Press reporters Jorge Vargas in Nuevo Laredo, Jorge
Dominguez in Cancun, and Alan Clendenning and Will Weissert in Mexico
City contributed to this report.