In a proposal that has slim chance of passage, if past history is a predictor, Mexico President Felipe Calderón this week asked that possession of some drugs be decriminalized.
The proposal would include only small amounts of those drugs being taken by addicts who agree to undergo treatment.
It is not the first time someone has suggested similar legislation. President Vicente Fox had gotten his proposal actually passed by the Mexican Congress two years ago. But it was quickly shot down, partly due to opposition from US officials who feared it would attract Americans to Mexico to use legal drugs. One difference in the earlier law is it did not require treatment for those found with drugs.
Calderón’s action could be viewed as an act of desperation in a country where the number of drug addicts has nearly doubled to 307,000 in six years and more than 4.5 million have tried drugs compared to 3.5 million six years ago. Even though the US is still a large market for Mexican drugs, more and more of Mexico’s own population are now purchasing them.
Because of increased drug usage, the country is having a difficult time prosecuting the many small-time drug cases. The new legislation caps the quantities that would not be subject to prosecution at 50 milligrams of heroin, 2 grams of marijuana, 500 milligrams of cocaine and 40 milligrams of methamphetamine.
Calderón can still expect opposition from the United States. American officials responding to his proposal said that US drug policy did not approve of legalizing even small amounts of drugs. “It rewards the drug traffickers and doesn’t make children’s lives safer,” an official said.
It remains to be seen if more recent realities will sway the Americans, who have been working closely with Calderón as he has aggressively cracked down on the drug cartels and who contributed $400 million in antidrug aid for Mexico earlier this year. Or if Calderón will take his own legislative path, regardless of the wishes of his allies to the north.