Many Mexicans were left wondering what their government was thinking of when the Senate approved a bill decriminalizing possession of most illegal drugs, and the president's office suggested he would sign it into law.
The plan to eliminate penalties for holding small amounts of cocaine, marijuana and even heroin could affect not only US-Mexico anti-drug cooperation but also Mexico itself, which has a growing domestic drug problem.
The bill was passed by the Senate on Friday, and Mexican President Vicente Fox's office suggested he would sign it.
"This has authorized the consumption of drugs," said Senator Miguel Angel Navarro of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party in arguing against the bill. "This authorizes the consumption of opium, morphine, heroin, cocaine and a variety of drugs that can only be bought illicitly."
Roman Catholic Bishop Jose Guadalupe Martin Rabago, president of the Mexican Council of Bishops, also expressed concern about the bill, which has passed both houses of Congress and now awaits only the president's signature.
"It's not by legalizing the possession or use of drugs that drug trafficking is going to be combatted," the bishop told reporters, "and that's why the government should be cautious about implementing this measure."
One US diplomat who requested anonymity said "we're still studying the legislation, but any effort to decriminalize illegal drugs would not be helpful."
trafficking
Mexican officials hope the law will allow police to 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.
In off-the-record chats and through their communications with US officials, Mexican officials tried to depict the bill as a simple clarification of existing laws.
But the changes are clear. Current Mexican law leaves open the possibility of dropping charges against people caught with drugs if they later prove they are drug addicts and if an expert certifies they were caught with "the quantity necessary for personal use."
The new bill makes the exemption automatic, drops the "addict" requirement, allows "consumers" to have drugs, and sets out specific allowable quantities, which do not appear in the current law.
Police would no longer bother with possession of up to 25mg of heroin, 5g of marijuana or 0.5g of cocaine.
The bill outlines allowable quantities for various other drugs, including LSD, MDA, MDMA (ecstasy), and amphetamines.
Sales of all those drugs would remain illegal under the proposed law.
Oscar Aguilar, a Mexico City political analyst, said Fox appeared almost certain to sign the law as his office proposed it, and his party supports it.
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