MEXICO BEGINS EFFORT TO CRACK DOWN ON DRUGS

Ambitious `No Tolerance' Policy Targets Dealers, Urges Prevention

MEXICO CITY - Mexico is finally acknowledging that, like its neighbor
to the north, it has a drug problem. Mexicans, too, are using
marijuana, cocaine, heroin and amphetamines, and the government says
drug use has doubled in the last decade.

President Vicente Fox last week announced an ambitious ``no
tolerance'' war on drugs that targets small-time drug dealers and
implements educational and prevention programs.

``We want . . . young people to say no to drugs. To say yes to sports,
study, culture,'' Fox said in a speech Monday to initiate the National
Program for Drug Control.

Similar to anti-drug campaigns in the United States, Fox's war on
drugs -- complete with slogans and tough talk -- is long on goals and
short on enforcement details, and it faces many hurdles.

``Structurally, it isn't easy to fight drug gangs. If you get one,
another one comes in,'' said Jorge Chabat, a drug specialist and
professor at Mexico City's Center for Economic Research and Teaching.
``Their distribution web is very efficient. They reach a lot of
people. They're everywhere.''

Dealers range from street-smart thugs who give school kids a free
taste to induce addiction, to moonlighting professionals and wealthy
homemakers who deliver drugs at homes ``like pizza.''

They are also clowns in costume and window washers who swoop down on
drivers during traffic jams. They're ``vendors'' who swarm motorists
at tollbooths. They park cars on corners and wait. Officials say they
bribe police officers with as much as $500 a week. Business is brisk.

Fox's five-year program enlists most government bodies, including the
attorney general, ministries, the armed forces, the health
secretariat, local and state governments and non-governmental
organizations. The armed forces and the attorney general's office are
already strongly supporting his assault on big-time
traffickers.

The program passed by presidential decree. Funds from various
government agencies will be pooled for the plan.

``Vicente Fox is more than ready for the challenge we face. In this
historic opportunity, federal, state and municipal authorities have
united with civilian society. They have linked efforts, resources,
skills and powers so Mexico can be a nation free of drugs,'' Attorney
General Rafael Macedo de la Concha said when Fox announced the plan.

Fox said the goal was to enhance and increase the number of
drug-treatment centers, impose tougher sentences on dealers, augment
prevention and educational programs in high-risk areas, particularly
large cities, and boost scholarships to keep kids in school.

``This is a national challenge and it requires a national effort,''
Fox said. ``The municipalities, the states, the federation, society
and the private sector are, each and every one, a fundamental part of
the solution.''

The government estimates that 2.5 million of the country's 100 million
people use drugs. Most users are men ages 18 to 34. Their drug of
choice is marijuana, followed by cocaine, the attorney general's
office estimates.

Chabat said Mexico's figures probably were exaggerated and did not
compare to drug use in the United States, where, he said, 5 percent of
the population takes drugs at least once a month. In Mexico, that
number is 1.3 percent.

``Still, the growth rate here is faster than in the United States,''
Chabat said. ``We could face a serious health crisis in the future.
The plan has good intentions, but how is it going to work? Time will
tell.''

Fox is proud of his record, saying that under his administration, 40
drug cartel leaders have been arrested and the operations of Mexico's
three top drug lords have been ``dismantled,'' including those of
jailed kingpin Benjamin Arrellano F=E9lix.

Last month, the military and agents from the attorney general's office
- -- the two main government bodies involved in the drug war -- charged
22 federal officials with giving government information to cartels.

To fortify his project, Fox said he would ask Congress to change laws
that allow only federal law enforcement agencies to arrest drug
dealers. He wants those powers extended to state judicial and
municipal police.