[AGL] Flash: Mexico shows signs of sense

[Gerry]

Do you know how much 5 grams of pot is? A thimble full. Certainly not the big deal you envision. The fine print says that the judge can make the decision on whether to prosecute or not for possession. That's the most sensible part and the kind of law we need to restore in the US.
G

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Frances Morey 
  To: survivors' reminiscences about Austin Ghetto Daze in the 60s 
  Sent: Saturday, April 29, 2006 10:18 AM
  Subject: Re: [AGL] Flash: Mexico shows signs of sense


  Good God! Harry,
  I hope this isn't just some other kind of news legend the mainstream media is ignoring! That fence they'er puttin' up is gonna have to serve for keeping Americans from trying to wade through the Rio Grande to get there!
  FM

  Harry Edwards <laughingwolf at ev1.net> wrote:

    Mexico to decriminalize pot, cocaine and heroin
    By Noel Randewich
    Fri Apr 28, 6:51 PM ET

    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 Congress.

    The measure given final passage by senators in a late night session on 
    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 on Friday. 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.

    The legislation came as a surprise to Washington, which counts on 
    Mexico's support in its war against drug smuggling gangs who move 
    massive quantities of cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamines 
    through Mexico to U.S. consumers.

    A delegation from the U.S. House of Representatives visited Mexico last 
    week and met with senior officials to discuss drug control issues, but 
    was told nothing of the planned legislative changes, said Michelle 
    Gress, a House subcommittee counsel who was part of the visiting team.

    "We were not informed," she told Reuters.

    HARDENED CRIMINALS

    Hundreds of people, including many police officers, have been killed in 
    Mexico in the past year as drug cartels battle for control of lucrative 
    smuggling routes 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 Sen. Jorge Zermeno of the ruling 
    National Action Party.

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

    Hector Michel Camarena, an opposition senator from the Institutional 
    Revolutionary Party, warned that although well intentioned, the law may 
    go too far.

    "There are serious questions we have to carefully analyze so that 
    through our spirit of fighting drug dealing, we don't end up 
    legalizing," he said. "We have to get rid of the concept of the (drug) 
    consumer."

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