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desultude
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: Dangling my toes in the Persian Gulf
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 Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 2:13 am Post subject: Mexico Votes to Decriminalize Cocaine, Pot |
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So, does it really matter that teacher's pay is so low in Mexico?  I can see where some people might find it a perfect break after a few years in Korea.  (Oops. excuse me, just a little imaginary contact high  .)
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Mexico Votes to Decriminalize Cocaine, Pot By MARK STEVENSON, Associated Press Writer
3 minutes ago
MEXICO CITY - Mexicans would be allowed to possess small amounts of cocaine, heroin, even ecstasy for their personal use under a bill approved by lawmakers that some worry could prove to be a lure to young Americans.
The bill now only needs 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 in the final hours of its closing session. 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 because he was not authorized to speak publicly, 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 with the United States. Millions of American youths 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.
In off-the-record chats and through their communications with U.S. officials, Mexican officials tried to depict the drug bill as a simple clarification of existing laws. But the changes are clear.
Currently, Mexican law leaves open the possibility of dropping charges against people caught with drugs if they can prove they are drug addicts and if an expert certifies they were caught with "the quantity necessary for personal use."
The new bill drops the "addict" requirement, allows "consumers" to have drugs, and sets out specific allowable quantities, which do not appear in the current law.
Those quantities are sometimes eye-popping: Mexicans would be allowed to posses 2.2 pounds of peyote, the button-sized hallucinogenic cactus used in some Indian religious ceremonies.
Police would no longer bother with possession of up to 25 milligrams of heroin, 5 grams of marijuana (about one-fifth of an ounce, or about four joints), or 0.5 grams of cocaine — the equivalent of about 4 "lines," or half the standard street-sale quantity.
The law lays out allowable quantities for a large array of other drugs, including LSD, MDA, MDMA (ecstasy, about two pills' worth), and amphetamines.
However the bill stiffens penalties for trafficking and possession of drugs — even small quantities — by government employees or near schools, and maintains criminal penalties for drug sales.
Sales of all those drugs would remain illegal under the proposed law, unlike in the Netherlands, where the sale of marijuana for medical use is legal and it can be bought with a prescription in pharmacies.
And while Dutch authorities look the other way regarding the open sale of cannabis in designated coffee shops — something Mexican police seem unlikely to do — the Dutch have zero tolerance for heroin and cocaine.
Sen. Miguel Angel Navarro of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party argued 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.
"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."
The law comes at a time of heightened tensions over a U.S. proposal for immigration reform, including legalization of many of America's estimated 11 million undocumented migrants.
A demonstration by thousands of Mexican workers Friday to promote union solidarity turned into a protest against America's vast influence on the nation's economy, with many protesters saying they will take part in a boycott of U.S. products next week. The proposed boycott is timed to coincide with Monday's "Day Without Immigrants" protest in the U.S., aimed at pushing Congress to approve the immigration reform.
Ethan Nadelmann, director of the New York-based Drug Policy Alliance, said Mexico's bill removed "a huge opportunity for low-level police corruption." Mexican police often release people detained for minor drug possession, in exchange for bribes. |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 2:25 am Post subject: Re: Mexico Votes to Decriminalize Cocaine, Pot |
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| desultude wrote: |
| Police would no longer bother with possession of up to 25 milligrams of heroin, 5 grams of marijuana (about one-fifth of an ounce, or about four joints), or 0.5 grams of cocaine — the equivalent of about 4 "lines," or half the standard street-sale quantity. |
what if there were a bit of each in possession? imagine the "fun packs" sold by drug pushers packing only one pack at a time.
There would automatically be an extra job in the supply chain, peddling supersmall quantities around, one sale at a time. |
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jinju
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 2:30 am Post subject: |
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| This is gonna piss of Bush:) I love it. |
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Tiger Beer
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 2:50 am Post subject: |
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An absolutely incredible bill.
Basically doesn't criminilize consumers of drugs. It will greatly free up the jails, prisons, legal system, on and on.
It allows police to focus on large-scale trafficking operations rather than minor drug busts. Just all the way around more intelligent.
Some of the 'personal consumption' is a bit interesting though.. 2 pounds of peyete are okay?
The bill says criminal charges will no longer be brought for possession of up to 25 milligrams of heroin, 5 grams of marijuana (about one-fifth of an ounce, or about four joints), or 0.5 grams of cocaine — the equivalent of about 4 "lines"
Interesting that heroin and cocaine would be tolerated even if for personal use. Good for addicts, and the legal system that ordinarly has to continuously prosecute them.
I'm seriously hoping the U.S. legal system is watching this closely as a potential role-model. I really think Mexico is the place to watch on this.. totally unexpected.. didn't expect it from Fox.
I can't believe the article brings up Americans in places like Tijuana or Acapalco or wherever.. seems like thats a GOOD thing the US Embassy doesn't have to deal with the ones going to jail for personal consumption amounts anymore! |
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CoolTeach
Joined: 19 Apr 2006
Location: Back in the USSR
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| Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 3:11 am Post subject: Junkies... |
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gfgfg
Last edited by CoolTeach on Fri Jul 28, 2006 6:33 am; edited 1 time in total |
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khyber
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Compunction Junction
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Moldy Rutabaga
Joined: 01 Jul 2003
Location: Ansan, Korea
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| Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 7:15 am Post subject: |
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[....]
Last edited by Moldy Rutabaga on Thu Jan 02, 2014 8:40 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Hollywoodaction
Joined: 02 Jul 2004
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| Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 6:25 pm Post subject: |
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| Man, that's gonna backfire. The US government is gonna use this against Mexicans in the US...Oh, wait, isn't that why marijuana was made illegal in the US? |
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sjrm
Joined: 27 Jul 2005
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| Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 1:29 am Post subject: |
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| Hollywoodaction wrote: |
| Man, that's gonna backfire. The US government is gonna use this against Mexicans in the US...Oh, wait, isn't that why marijuana was made illegal in the US? |
no, it's only so the kennedy's and bush can do drugs. where do you think all the seized drugs go? it ain't down the toilet. it's shipped right to the white house for bush and to ted kennedy's office. |
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The Cube
Joined: 01 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 2:25 am Post subject: |
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..
Last edited by The Cube on Tue Dec 02, 2008 10:39 am; edited 1 time in total |
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SPINOZA
Joined: 10 Jun 2005
Location: $eoul
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| Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 3:34 am Post subject: |
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| Moves to de-criminalize hard drugs are right on the money. Legalizing pot is fun and all, but really it's quite pointless in my opinion. Prohibition of heroin and cocaine is socio-economically disastrous. People who disagree are totally ignorant about drugs. |
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chest rockwell
Joined: 16 May 2005
Location: Sanbon
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| Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 4:51 am Post subject: |
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| weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Off to Mexico!!!!!!!!!! |
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Satori
Joined: 09 Dec 2005
Location: Above it all
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| Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 6:23 am Post subject: |
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| SPINOZA wrote: |
| Legalizing pot is fun and all, but really it's quite pointless in my opinion. |
It's not pointless at all. It will save tons of money spent on policing something that never should have been illegal and does very little harm. It stops millions of otherwise law abiding citzens from being "criminals". And in the long run will take the oomph out of the black market for it. Plenty of very good points for legalising pot. |
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itaewonguy
Joined: 25 Mar 2003
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| Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 9:59 am Post subject: |
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About time!! I hope other countries follow suite!
If mexico does this and it has a great effect wont be long before other countries follow..
this should have been done in the 60's!!!
way to go MEXICO!! |
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Golden Lama
Joined: 08 Jan 2006
Location: Left-of-Centre of the Universe
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| Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 4:15 pm Post subject: |
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Drugs Now Legal If User Is Employed
The Onion, March 27, 2002 | Issue 38•11
WASHINGTON, DC—Seeking to "narrow the focus of the drug war to the true enemy," Congress passed a bill legalizing drug use for the gainfully employed Monday.
The Drug War
"Stockbrokers, lawyers, English professors... you're not the problem here," said DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson at a White House press conference. "If you are paying taxes and keeping your yard tidy, we're not going to hassle you if you come home from a hard day of work and want to enjoy a little pot or blow. But if, on the other hand, you're one of these lazy, shiftless types hanging out on the street all day looking for your next high, we're coming after you."
The new law, which goes into effect May 1, will enable police departments and courts to focus on what Hutchinson called "the real drug offenders."
"There's no point going after some cardiac surgeon who needs some speed to keep him sharp," Hutchinson said. "That's not what the law was intended to prevent. But the more destructive drug users—the addict who spends his welfare money on crack, the guy in Harlem who smokes marijuana—that is something that we as a society must not tolerate."
According to Drug Czar John P. Walters, the legislation should have a beneficial effect on the health of the American people.
"As a result of this new law, we expect use of addictive, harmful drugs like heroin and crack—those statistically more likely to be linked to unemployment—to drop," Walters said. "Meanwhile, decent people with good jobs can continue their responsible use of milder drugs like E and cocaine in peace."
Walters said the new legislation will make it significantly easier to fight the drug war. The nation's courts will not be clogged with cases involving club kids caught with "Vitamin K" or doctors prescribing Vicodin to rich housewives. More money can be freed up to build prisons to keep chronically unemployed addicts in jail and off the streets—the only statistically proven method of improving an addict's chance of recovery.
"Clearly, a lot of people doing drugs simply cannot handle them," Walters said. "We've got to get the drugs out of the hands of these people, and give them back to the weekend user."
The law, Hutchinson noted, will also help protect the nation's poor and unemployed, who are not as equipped to handle the effects of drug addiction as their more affluent counterparts.
"Drugs are addictive, and that's true whether you're a ghetto gang member or a Harvard-educated entertainment lawyer," Hutchinson said. "But the cold, hard truth is, if the ghetto kid gets hooked, he isn't going to clean up in a rehab clinic in Palm Springs and maybe even become president, now, is he? That's why we need to protect the less fortunate among us with the threat of arrest and incarceration."
The U.S. economy also stands to benefit. Initial surveys indicate that the threat of jail will motivate recreational drug users to seek employment, reducing the nation's welfare rolls.
"Legal weed versus jail?" asked Cory Everly, 23, an unemployed Austin, TX, singer-songwriter. "I am so totally going down to the sub shop today to ask Rudy for my job back."
Added Everly: "Rudy's my boss... at the sub shop."
"The new American motto is 'Work Hard, Play Hard,'" Hutchinson said. "Do a few bumps of coke at your gay friend's party. Go to your be-in or your Lollapalooza rave or whatever it's called this year. But you'd better make it in to work on Monday, buddy, or you're going to jail."
"Sorry if some of my comments have been a bit rambling and unfocused," Hutchinson added. "I'm a little high right now." |
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