DRUG LEGALIZATION NEARS IN MEXICO

Small Amounts Would Be OK

MEXICO CITY -- Possessing marijuana, cocaine, and even heroin will no
longer be a crime in Mexico if the drugs are carried in small amounts
for personal use, under legislation passed by the Mexican Congress.

The measure given final passage by senators late Thursday allows
police to focus on their battle against major drug dealers, the
government says, and President Vicente Fox is expected to sign it into
law.

"This law provides more judicial tools for authorities to fight
crime," presidential spokesman Ruben Aguilar said yesterday. The
measure was approved earlier by the lower house.

Under the legislation, police will not penalize people for possessing
up to 5 grams of marijuana, 5 grams of opium, 25 milligrams of heroin,
or 500 milligrams of cocaine.

People caught with larger quantities of drugs will be treated as
narcotics dealers and face increased jail terms under the plan.

The legal changes will also decriminalize the possession of limited
quantities of other drugs, including LSD, hallucinogenic mushrooms,
amphetamines, and peyote -- a psychotropic cactus found in Mexico's
northern deserts.

Hundreds of people, including several police officers, have been
killed in the past year as drug cartels battle authorities and compete
with one another for control of lucrative cocaine, marijuana, and
heroin smuggling routes from Mexico into the United States.

The violence has raged mostly in northern Mexico but in recent months
has spread south to cities like vacation resort Acapulco.

Under current law, it is up to local judges and police to decide on a
case-by-case basis whether people should be prosecuted for possessing
small quantities of drugs, a source at the Senate's health commission
told Reuters.

"The object of this law is to not put consumers in jail, but rather
those who sell and poison," said Senator Jorge Zermeno of the ruling
National Action Party.

Fifty-three senators voted for the bill with 26 votes against
it.