Pubdate: Tue, 16 May 2006
Source: Dalles Chronicle, The (OR)
Copyright: 2006 Eagle Newspapers Inc.
Contact:  http://www.thedalleschronicle.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3382
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

BORDER TRAFFIC

News coming out of Mexico that might still have a significant impact 
on relations with that country may have been lost in the reaction and 
counter-reaction to the May 1 demonstrations on the issue of 
immigration. At the end of April, the Mexican legislature had passed 
a bill that would have decriminalized possession of small amounts of drugs.

That included heroin (25 milligrams), cocaine 500 milligrams), 
marijuana (5 grams) and other drugs such as LSD.

Mexican President Vincente Fox had announced he would sign the bill; 
in fact, he had a hand in designing the legislation.

But heavy pressure from the United States convinced Fox to send the 
bill back to the legislature for more work.

It should be noted that the intent of the bill was not to reposition 
Mexico as a drug haven, but to free up jail space and refocus funding 
and manpower from small-time users to big-time smugglers and dealers.

Other parts of the bill would have set stiffer penalties for 
trafficking and empowered Mexico's 400,000 local and state police to 
pursue and arrest street dealers, which is now the responsibility of 
a federal police force with just 21,000 employees.

The Chief of the Federal Police, Eduardo Medina Mora, 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," he said.

But American officials, particularly those in towns near the southern 
border, were not mollified.

San Diego Mayor Mayor Jerry Sanders, a former police chief, called 
the bill "appallingly reckless and incredibly dangerous."

Ron Brooks, President of US National Narcotics Officers Association, 
a coalition representing over 60,000 state narcotics officers, 
presented a scary scenario in an interview with the Associated Press: 
"Your kid goes down to party for a few days over spring break and 
comes back strung out. We have 24,000 overdose deaths a year in the 
US." If the bill passed, he said, there would be more.

Mexico would not have been the first country to decriminalize drugs.

Half a dozen European countries, as well as Colombia, have passed 
some form of decriminalization law. Whether that's helped, or hurt, 
the fight against major drug trafficking is unclear. Peter Reuter, a 
professor of public policy at the University of Maryland's Department 
of Criminology said there is no proof leniency affects the number of 
users. "Italy and Spain have moderately severe drug problems but 
don't stand out with the highest addiction rates or more drug-related 
criminality.

Switzerland has a higher rate of addiction and has a much more 
conventional policy," he says. "A study has yet to show that 
decriminalizing drugs has an effect on drug consumption or trafficking."

But many Mexican officials, the Associated Press reported, have a 
different take.

"It does not make any sense to put all the addicts or small-time 
users in jail," said Jorge Chabat a Mexican scholar who studies the 
illegal drug trade at the Center for Economic Research and Teaching. 
"Addicts are not criminals and our jails are overwhelmed -- so we 
need to choose who we are going to fight and how."

That opinion -- that current methods are not working and that drastic 
action needs to be taken -- is not going to go away. Following 
President Fox's decision to veto the bill, Mexican lawmakers pledged 
to keep pushing for its passage, saying they could override Mr. Fox's 
veto. Should that happen, expect a sharp increase in southbound 
border traffic, as consumers seek out the lowest prices in classic 
capitalist tradition, and gold flows to Acapulco in search of Acapulco Gold.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman