Mexico decriminalizes personal possession of marijuana

(Spokane Spokesman-Review) MEXICO CITY – Mexico enacted a controversial law Thursday decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs while encouraging free government treatment for drug dependency.

The law sets out maximum “personal use” amounts for drugs, also including LSD and methamphetamine. People detained with those quantities will no longer face criminal prosecution when the law goes into effect today.

Anyone caught with drug amounts under the personal-use limit will be encouraged to seek treatment, and for those caught a third time treatment is mandatory – although the law does not specify penalties for noncompliance.

In 2006, the U.S. government publicly criticized a similar bill. Then-President Vicente Fox sent that law – which did not have a mandatory treatment provision – back to Congress for reconsideration.

The maximum amount of marijuana considered to be for “personal use” under the new law is 5 grams – the equivalent of about four joints. The limit is a half gram for cocaine, the equivalent of about 4 “lines.” For other drugs, the limits are 50 milligrams of heroin, 40 milligrams for methamphetamine and 0.015 milligrams for LSD.

Mexico has emphasized the need to differentiate drug addicts and casual users from the violent traffickers whose turf battles have contributed to the deaths of more than 11,000 people during Calderon’s term. In the face of growing domestic drug use, Mexico has increased its focus on prevention and drug treatment.

Funny how assassinations of federal officials and piles of bodies in the public square will move your focus away from your average pot smoker, isn’t it?

As it was, Mexico didn’t really punish the people caught with personal amounts anyway.  A suspect could always claim he was an “addict” and the amount he possessed was for personal use.  However, the law never established what amounts counted as “personal” and this loophole allowed corrupt cops and judges to seek bribes from average users in order to get their amounts declared “personal”.