http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-04-28-mexicodrugs_x.htm?csp=24 Mexico votes to legalize small amounts of cocaine, heroin and marijuana MEXICO CITY (AP) â Mexico's Congress approved a bill Friday that would legalize drug possession for personal use â decriminalizing the carrying of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine and even heroin. The only step remaining is the signature of the president, whose office indicates he will sign the measure, despite the implications for the war on drugs. The bill, approved by the Senate on a 53-26 vote with one abstention, had been approved earlier by the lower house of Congress. U.S. officials had no immediate reaction on what this means for the fight against drug trafficking, or the vast numbers of American students who visit Mexico on vacation. "The presidency congratulates the Congress for approving the reforms," said presidential spokesman Ruben Aguilar. "This law gives police and prosecutors better legal tools to combat drug crimes that do so much damage to our youth and children." The bill legalizes possession of small amounts of heroin, cocaine, ectasy and marijuana. "No charges will be brought against ... addicts or consumers who are found in possession of any narcotic for personal use," the bill reads. Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. lol yeppa yeppa, arrrrreba............... ahhh phukit
Obviously, you've never tried cocaine. If you had, you'd know how truly underwhelming the cocaine high really feels.
this is a pretty interesting move by the mexican govt. i totally agree with the decriminalization of marijuana. i don't think that it's necessarily a great idea to decrim cocaine, but i don't think it's a bad idea either. i agree that, media hype aside, cocaine is not a particularly dangerous drug. the rate of physical addiction is GREATLY exaggerated. heroin, of course, is exceptionally addictive, but it doesn't therefore follow that imprisoning heroin addicts is a good idea. i'm really interested to see how this turns out all the college kids in california are gonna be STOKED. ROAD TRIP!!!!
Does anyone know - if they are allowing possession of small amounts, did the law also include a heavy penalty for posession above those levels? Or did they lessen the penalty for that level of posession too?
my understanding is that they did not change at all, the harsh treatment of dealers, and traffickers.
Interesting development, does this make Mexico the first country in the world to re-legalise hard drugs for personal use? If so then it's a significant advance in personal freedom. It will also prove very useful over the next 10-20 years as a field test of the impact of legalisation for personal use. If drug-related crimes and social impacts change significantly over this period, we'll finally have an empirical test of whether increasing personal freedoms on drugs results in higher or lower social costs. Finally, this could have an interesting market impact. Imagine hordes of American youngsters popping over the border to try out the drugs there. Time to go long Mexican package-tour operators?