Last Resort Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 (edited) By MARK STEVENSON (AP) – 5 hours ago MEXICO CITY — Mexico decriminalized small amounts of marijuana, cocaine and heroin on Friday — a move that prosecutors say makes sense even in the midst of the government's grueling battle against drug traffickers. Prosecutors said the new law sets clear limits that keep Mexico's corruption-prone police from extorting casual users and offers addicts free treatment to keep growing domestic drug use in check. "This is not legalization, this is regulating the issue and giving citizens greater legal certainty," said Bernardo Espino del Castillo of the attorney general's office. The new law sets out maximum "personal use" amounts for drugs, also including LSD and methamphetamine. People detained with those quantities no longer face criminal prosecution. Espino del Castillo says, in practice, small users almost never did face charges anyway. Under the previous law, the possession of any amount of drugs was punishable by stiff jail sentences, but there was leeway for addicts caught with smaller amounts. "We couldn't charge somebody who was in possession of a dose of a drug, there was no way ... because the person would claim they were an addict," he said. Despite the provisions, police sometimes hauled in suspects and demanded bribes, threatening long jail sentences if people did not pay. "The bad thing was that it was left up to the discretion of the detective, and it could open the door to corruption or extortion," Espino del Castillo said. Anyone caught with drug amounts under the new personal-use limit will be encouraged to seek treatment, and for those caught a third time treatment is mandatory. The maximum amount of marijuana 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 since President Felipe Calderon took office in late 2006. But one expert saw potential for conflict under the new law. Javier Oliva, a political scientist at Mexico's National Autonomous University, said the new law posed "a serious contradiction" for the Calderon administration. "If they decriminalize drugs it could lead the army, which has been given the task of combating this, to say 'What are we doing'?" he said. Officials said the legal changes could help the government focus more on big-time traffickers. Espino del Castillo said since Calderon took office, there have been over 15,000 police searches related to small-scale drug dealing or possession, with 95,000 people detained — but only 12 to 15 percent of whom were ever charged with anything. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfduFy26EE0 Edited August 21, 2009 by Last Resort Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Last Resort Posted August 21, 2009 Author Share Posted August 21, 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8VIXnTL6O0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYS732zyYfU Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Micmac Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 Good idea, it would save our country billion$ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigsmooth Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPntEuJM3ME The Mexican Govt also said that if a person is caught 3 times with the "legalized" small aounts of "product" they have to attend Drug counseling. Interesting flawed but interesting. I guess our neighbors realized it costs to much too go after the small guys and want to focus on the Cartels. I hope the CA/ NV Medicinal MJ Centers are the first state side places to get left alone and I hope our gov't gets the message about what a waste it is to have Sgt STadanko harass people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCH Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 (edited) Lou Reed from back in my hey days! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8VIXnTL6O0 Edited August 21, 2009 by RCH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackdog Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPntEuJM3ME The Mexican Govt also said that if a person is caught 3 times with the "legalized" small aounts of "product" they have to attend Drug counseling. Interesting flawed but interesting. I guess our neighbors realized it costs to much too go after the small guys and want to focus on the Cartels. I hope the CA/ NV Medicinal MJ Centers are the first state side places to get left alone and I hope our gov't gets the message about what a waste it is to have Sgt STadanko harass people. YEAH BABY!!! we AGREE on something - totally. The guy that ran the clinic here on Los Osos got a "will not pursue" from the feds in LA awhile back (of course after they made his life a living hell even though he was "California Legal"). The recent "big fire" that burned near me in Santa Maria was from a cookstove the cartel kicked over while tending their "gardens" in Los Padres National forest. IMO - Stop the illegal traffic, by making it legal and put the resources best spent elsewhere. Tax it and do even more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whadayawant Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 YEAH BABY!!! we AGREE on something - totally. The guy that ran the clinic here on Los Osos got a "will not pursue" from the feds in LA awhile back (of course after they made his life a living hell even though he was "California Legal"). The recent "big fire" that burned near me in Santa Maria was from a cookstove the cartel kicked over while tending their "gardens" in Los Padres National forest. IMO - Stop the illegal traffic, by making it legal and put the resources best spent elsewhere. Tax it and do even more. AMEN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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