Thread: Mexican President Backs Off Drug Proposal

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?secti ... id=4140924

Mexican President Backs Off Drug Proposal
MEXICO CITY, May 3, 2006 - Mexican President Vicente Fox refused to sign a drug decriminalization bill Wednesday, hours after U.S. officials warned the plan could encourage "drug tourism."

Fox sent the measure back to Congress for changes, but his office did not mention the U.S. criticism.
"Without underestimating the progress made on the issue, and with sensitivity toward the opinions expressed by various sectors of society, the administration has decided to suggest changes," according to a statement from his office.

Fox said he will ask "Congress to make the needed corrections to make it absolutely clear in our country, the possession of drugs and their consumption are, and will continue to be, a criminal offense."

On Tuesday, Fox's spokesman had called the bill "an advance" and pledged the president would sign it. But the measure, passed Friday by Congress, drew a storm of criticism because it eliminates criminal penalties possession of small amounts of heroin, methamphetamines and PCP, as well as marijuana and cocaine.

Weighing in, the U.S. government Wednesday expressed a rare public objection to an internal Mexican political development, saying anyone caught with illegal drugs in Mexico should be prosecuted or given mandatory drug treatment.

"U.S. officials ... urged Mexican representatives to review the legislation urgently, to avoid the perception that drug use would be tolerated in Mexico, and to prevent drug tourism," U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Judith Bryan said.

There are concerns the measure could increase drug use by border visitors and U.S. students who flock to Mexico on vacation.

Bryan said the U.S. government wants Mexico "to ensure that all persons found in possession of any quantity of illegal drugs be prosecuted or be sent into mandatory drug treatment programs."

The legislature has adjourned for the summer, and when it comes back, it will have an entirely new lower house and one-third new Senate members following the July 2 elections, which will also make the outgoing Fox a lame duck.

However, Sen. Jorge Zermeno, of Fox's conservative National Action Party - a supporter of the bill - said he thought Congress would be open to changing the legislation to delete a clause that extends to all "consumers" the exemption from prosecution that was originally meant to cover only recognized drug addicts.

"The word 'consumer' can be eliminated so that the only exemption clause would be for drug addicts," Zermeno told The Associated Press. "There's still time to get this through."

The bill contained many points that experts said were positive: it empowered state and local police - not just federal officers - to go after drug dealers, stiffened some penalties and closed loopholes that dealers had long used to escape prosecution.

But the broad decriminalization clause was what soured many - both in Mexico and abroad - to the proposal.

The following statement was released from President Fox's press office:
Being sensible to the expressions of diverse sectors of society, the government has decided to make observations to the content of the legal instruments mentioned on the bill so that Congress proceeds with the necessary corrections to make absolutely clear that in our country the possession of drugs and their consumption are and will continue to be a crime.

The Mexican state will continue to fight against narco-trafficking and in no way will promote the use of drugs. The bill's objective is to fight, with all the strength of the law, the trafficking of illegal substances - in particular, those in small quantities. The government will submit in time and form, to the Congress, its observations to the bill with the objective to, again, leave no doubt that in our country the possession and consumption of drugs are and will continue to be a crime.

http://today.reuters.com

Mexico's Fox backs down on drug law
Wed May 3, 2006 10:55 PM ET



By Frank Jack Daniel

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - In a surprise reversal, Mexican President Vicente Fox will not sign a widely criticized reform to decriminalize the possession of small quantities of marijuana, cocaine and heroin, his office said on Wednesday.

The president's office said the law, which also toughened sentences for dealing and holding larger amounts of the intoxicants, would be sent back to Congress for revision.

"In our country the possession of drugs and their consumption are, and will continue to be, crimes," the office said in a statement.

Fox's decision was unexpected, given that the legislation was initially designed by his office and introduced by his party. This week, his spokesman praised the law and insisted the president would quickly sign it, despite rumblings from a shocked Washington.

Mexico argued that the measure set out clearer rules to deal with drug crime, toughened sentences and closed loop-holes. Under present law courts decide on a case-by-case basis whether to act against people who hold drugs.

But the bill allowed for the possession of up to 5 grams (0.18 ounces) of marijuana, 5 grams (0.18 ounces) of opium, 25 milligrams (0.0009 ounces) of heroin and 500 milligrams (0.018 ounces) of cocaine.

It also decriminalized the possession of limited quantities of other drugs, including LSD, hallucinogenic mushrooms, amphetamines and peyote -- a psychotropic cactus found in the Mexican deserts.

Critics, including politicians on both sides of the border, said relaxing the rules so much would attract drug users to Mexico from around the world and complicate its drug war.

Congress passed the legislation last week, dismaying Washington, which counts on its southern neighbor's support in a war against gangs that move massive quantities of cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamines through Mexico to U.S. consumers.

Hundreds of people, including many police officers, have been killed in Mexico in the past year as drug cartels have battled for control of lucrative smuggling routes.

The violence has raged mostly in northern Mexico, but in recent months has spread south to Pacific coast resorts like Acapulco.

Beleaguered police in the crime-racked Mexican border region warned that the legalization law would make its already chaotic cities rowdier and more unruly. And authorities tourist towns feared the reforms would attract a flood of hard-partying U.S. thrill seekers.

http://www.nytimes.com

May 4, 2006
Under U.S. Pressure, Mexico President Seeks Review of Drug Law
By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr. and JOHN BRODER
MEXICO CITY, May 3 — After intense pressure from the United States, President Vicente Fox has asked Congress to reconsider a law it passed last week that would decriminalize the possession of small amounts of drugs as part of a larger effort to crack down on street-level dealing.

In a statement issued late Wednesday, Mr. Fox said the law should be changed "to make it absolutely clear that in our country the possession of drugs and their consumption are and continue to be crimes."

Officials from the State Department and the White House's drug control office met with the Mexican ambassador in Washington Monday and expressed grave reservations about the law, saying it would draw tourists to Mexico who want to take drugs and would lead to more consumption, said Tom Riley, a spokesman for the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Later in the day, Mexico's chief of the Federal Police, Eduardo Medina Mora, tried to clarify the law's intent, saying its main purpose was to enlist help from the state and local police forces. Until now, selling drugs has been solely a federal offense, and the agents charged with investigating traffickers are stretched thin, he said.

Mr. Medina Mora, the main architect of the first measure, which Mr. Fox sent to Congress in January, said it was true the law would make it a misdemeanor to possess small quantities of illegal drugs, but he added that people caught with those drugs would still have to go before a judge and would face a range of penalties. "Mexico is not, has not been and will not be a refuge for anyone who wants to consume drugs," Mr. Medina Mora said.

The current law has a provision allowing people arrested on charges of possessing drugs to argue they are addicts and that the drugs were for personal use. The new law sets an upper limit on how much of each drug one could possess and still claim to be using it to support a habit, Mr. Medina Mora said, and stiffens penalties for people possessing larger amounts of drugs.

But the law drew a firestorm of criticism from American officials on the border and among American drug enforcement officials in Mexico, who argue any move toward decriminalization would encourage drug tourism. Some municipal officials on the border have worried that cities like Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez would become the Mexican equivalent of Amsterdam, where marijuana is legal in some bars. Mayor Jerry Sanders of San Diego, a former police chief, called the bill "appallingly reckless and incredibly dangerous."

Judith Bryan, a spokeswoman for the American Embassy here, said the officials in Washington had urged Mexico "to review the legislation and to avoid the perception that drug use would be tolerated in Mexico and to prevent drug tourism."

It is unusual for American officials to try to influence internal Mexican legislation.

Mr. Fox made it clear late Wednesday he would not sign the bill in its current form, but would send it back to Congress with proposed amendments.

James C. McKinley Jr. reported from Mexico City for this article, and John Broder from Los Angeles.

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http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-05-04-voa55.cfm

White House Welcomes Mexico's Decision on Drug Bill
By VOA News
04 May 2006



The White House has welcomed a decision by Mexico's president not to sign a bill that would have decriminalized possession of small amounts of narcotics.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Thursday the United States welcomes the steps being taken by President Vicente Fox.

Wednesday, Mr. Fox's office announced he would not sign the bill and the legislation would be sent back to Congress for changes.

The statement said the possession of drugs and their consumption are, and will continue to be, crimes in Mexico.

The bill would have allowed the possession of small amounts of cocaine, marijuana, heroin, the hallucinogenic drug L.S.D., amphetamines and M.D.M.A, or ecstasy. Mr. Fox's office had previously said he would sign the measure.

Some officials in the United States said the measure would likely lead to increased border drug activity and drug use by U.S. students and others who visit Mexico.