Mexico seeks to decriminalize small-time drug use

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-10-03 20:46

MEXICO CITY - Mexican President Felipe Calderon wants to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of street drugs in a plan likely to irk Washington.

Mexican soldiers patrol a street after a shootout in the municipality of China, northeast of Monterrey, September 28, 2008. [Agencies]

Calderon sent a proposal to Congress on Thursday that would scrap the penalties for drugs including cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, opium and marijuana.

"What we are seeking is to not treat an addict as a criminal, but rather as a sick person and give them psychological and medical treatment," said Sen. Alejandro Gonzalez, head of the Senate's justice committee.

Under Calderon's plan, people carrying up to 2 grams (0.07 ounces) of marijuana or opium, half a gram of cocaine, 50 milligrams of heroin or 40 milligrams of methamphetamine would face no criminal charges.

It would also give Mexican states the power to try drug dealers in local courts instead of at the federal level.

Reviving a similar effort by his predecessor, Calderon aims to free up police to hunt for dealers and smugglers. But the plan could run into opposition in largely conservative Mexico as well as in the United States.

Former president Vicente Fox introduced a drug decriminalization measure in 2006 but ditched it after Washington objected and critics on both sides of the border said it could lure "drug tourists" from the United States.

Drug use is less common among young people in Mexico than in the United States or Europe. But consumption is creeping up with the growth of the middle class and as tighter border controls mean more cocaine stays in the country.

Calderon has deployed thousands of troops to clamp down on the drug gangs that shuttle Colombian cocaine over Mexico's northern border. But cartel violence has soared as a result, killing some 3,000 people this year.