Saturday, May 06, 2006
Mexico's Fox says no to drug decriminalization
The big news in drug-policy circles has been the Mexican Senate's surprise move on April 29 to decriminalize all illegal drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, heroin, speed, Ecstasy, mushrooms and peyote. On Thursday, Jon Stewart joked, "If you go to Mexico, only drink the bottled bongwater."
"Under the bill as passed by the congress," DRCNet's Phil Smith reported at stopthedrugwar.com, "possession of up to five grams of marijuana, 25 milligrams of heroin, a half-gram of cocaine, two-tenths of a gram of methamphetamine or Ecstasy, and one-quarter gram of psychedelic mushrooms would be considered possession for personal use. And in a nod to Mexico's indigenous population, the measure would also decriminalize the possession of up to 2.2 pounds of psychedelic peyote cactus."
But then outgoing Mexican president Vicente Fox, facing pressure from the US, vetoed the bill and sent it back to Congress. Fox's term ends this year (elections are in July).
Former Colombian Attorney General Gustavo de Greiff, who heads the Latin American anti-prohibitionist umbrella group, REFORMA, called "this refusal by Fox to sign the bill...an act of political cowardice."
Drug Policy Alliance executive director Ethan Nadelmann sighed, "This is a real disappointment."
Clearly, the US will do everything in its power to prevent border nations Mexico and Canada from breaking from America's rigid and increasingly isolated drug policies.
To read the complete DRCNet story: CLICK HERE
"Under the bill as passed by the congress," DRCNet's Phil Smith reported at stopthedrugwar.com, "possession of up to five grams of marijuana, 25 milligrams of heroin, a half-gram of cocaine, two-tenths of a gram of methamphetamine or Ecstasy, and one-quarter gram of psychedelic mushrooms would be considered possession for personal use. And in a nod to Mexico's indigenous population, the measure would also decriminalize the possession of up to 2.2 pounds of psychedelic peyote cactus."
But then outgoing Mexican president Vicente Fox, facing pressure from the US, vetoed the bill and sent it back to Congress. Fox's term ends this year (elections are in July).
Former Colombian Attorney General Gustavo de Greiff, who heads the Latin American anti-prohibitionist umbrella group, REFORMA, called "this refusal by Fox to sign the bill...an act of political cowardice."
Drug Policy Alliance executive director Ethan Nadelmann sighed, "This is a real disappointment."
Clearly, the US will do everything in its power to prevent border nations Mexico and Canada from breaking from America's rigid and increasingly isolated drug policies.
To read the complete DRCNet story: CLICK HERE
