SENATE CLEARS A LIMITED USE OF NARCOTICS

Fox Likely To Decriminalize Coke, Heroin

MEXICO CITY - Mexico's Congress approved a bill Friday
decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, ecstasy,
cocaine and heroin for personal use -- a measure sure to raise
questions in Washington about Mexico's commitment to the war on drugs.

The only step remaining was the signature of the president, whose
office indicated he would sign it.

Mexican officials hope the law will help police focus on large-scale
trafficking operations, rather than minor drug busts. The bill also
stiffens penalties for trafficking and possession of drugs -- even
small quantities -- by government employees or near schools, and
maintains criminal penalties for drug sales.

The Bush administration had no immediate reaction.

The bill, passed by Mexico's Senate on a 53-26 vote with one
abstention, had already been approved in the lower house of Congress
and was sent to the desk of President Vicente Fox for his signature.

"This law gives police and prosecutors better legal tools to combat
drug crimes that do so much damage to our youth and children,"
presidential spokesman Ruben Aguilar said.

The bill says criminal charges will no longer be brought for
possession of up to 25 milligrams of heroin, five grams of marijuana
(about one-fifth of an ounce, or about four joints) and half a gram
of cocaine -- about half the standard street-size quantity, which is
enough for several lines of the drug.

"No charges will be brought against ... addicts or consumers who are
found in possession of any narcotic for personal use," according to
the Senate bill, which also lays out allowable quantities for a large
array of other drugs, including LSD, MDA, Ecstasy and
amphetamines.

Some of the amounts are eye-popping: Mexicans would be allowed to
possess 2.2 pounds of peyote, the button-sized hallucinogenic cactus
used in some native Indian religious ceremonies.

Mexican law now leaves 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 and sets out specific
allowable quantities.

Sale of all drugs would remain illegal under the proposed law, unlike
the Netherlands, where the sale of marijuana for medical use is legal
and it can be bought with a prescription in pharmacies.

While Dutch authorities look the other way regarding the open sale of
cannabis in designated coffee shops -- something Mexican police seem
unlikely to do -- the Dutch have zero tolerance for heroin and cocaine.

The effects could be significant, given that Mexico is rapidly
becoming a drug-consuming nation as well as a shipment point for
traffickers, and given the number of U.S. students who flock to border
cities or resorts like Cancun and Acapulco on vacation.

"This is going to increase addictions in Mexico," said Ulisis Bon, a
drug treatment expert in Tijuana, where heroin use is rampant. "A lot
of Americans already come here to buy medications they can't get up
there. ... Just imagine, with heroin."