Mexico City – Mexicans would be allowed to possess small amounts of cocaine, heroin and ecstasy for their personal use under a bill that some worry could prove to be a lure to young Americans.
The bill needs only President Vicente Fox’s signature to become law, and that does not appear to be an obstacle. His office said that decriminalizing drugs will free up police to focus on major dealers.
“This law gives police and prosecutors better legal tools to combat drug crimes that do so much damage to our youth and children,” said Fox’s spokesman, Ruben Aguilar.
The Senate approved the bill Friday. Mexico’s lower house had already endorsed the legislation.
The measure appeared to surprise U.S. officials. State Department spokeswoman Janelle Hironimus said the department was trying to get more information about it. One U.S. diplomat, who requested anonymity, said, “We’re still studying the legislation, but any effort to decriminalize illegal drugs would not be helpful.”
Some worried the law would increase drug addiction in Mexico and cause problems in the United States. Millions of Americans visit Mexico’s beach resorts and border towns each year.
“A lot of Americans already come here to buy medications they can’t get up there. … Just imagine, with heroin,” said Ulisis Bon, a drug-treatment expert in Tijuana, where heroin use is rampant.
Currently, Mexican law leaves open the possibility of dropping charges against people caught with drugs if they can prove they are addicts and if an expert certifies they were caught with “the quantity necessary for personal use.”
The new bill drops the “addict” language, allows “consumers” to have drugs and sets out allowable quantities, which do not appear in the current law.
