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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: bentway who wrote (286085)	4/29/2006 10:48:13 AM
From: Jim McMannis	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1575864

news.yahoo.com Mexico to decriminalize pot, cocaine and heroin By Noel Randewich Fri Apr 28, 6:51 PM ET MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Possessing marijuana, cocaine and even heroin will no longer be a crime in Mexico if the drugs are carried in small amounts for personal use, under legislation passed by Congress. The measure given final passage by senators in a late night session on Thursday allows police to focus on their battle against major drug dealers, the government says, and President Vicente Fox is expected to sign it into law. "This law provides more judicial tools for authorities to fight crime," presidential spokesman Ruben Aguilar said on Friday. The measure was approved earlier by the lower house. Under the legislation, police will not penalize people for possessing up to 5 grams of marijuana, 5 grams of opium, 25 milligrams of heroin or 500 milligrams of cocaine. People caught with larger quantities of drugs will be treated as narcotics dealers and face increased jail terms under the plan. The legal changes will also decriminalize the possession of limited quantities of other drugs, including LSD, hallucinogenic mushrooms, amphetamines and peyote -- a psychotropic cactus found in Mexico's northern deserts. The legislation came as a surprise to Washington, which counts on Mexico's support in its war against drug smuggling gangs who move massive quantities of cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamines through Mexico to U.S. consumers. A delegation from the U.S. House of Representatives visited Mexico last week and met with senior officials to discuss drug control issues, but was told nothing of the planned legislative changes, said Michelle Gress, a House subcommittee counsel who was part of the visiting team. "We were not informed," she told Reuters. HARDENED CRIMINALS Hundreds of people, including many police officers, have been killed in Mexico in the past year as drug cartels battle for control of lucrative smuggling routes into the United States. The violence has raged mostly in northern Mexico but in recent months has spread south to cities like vacation resort Acapulco. Under current law, it is up to local judges and police to decide on a case-by-case basis whether people should be prosecuted for possessing small quantities of drugs, a source at the Senate's health commission told Reuters. "The object of this law is to not put consumers in jail, but rather those who sell and poison," said Sen. Jorge Zermeno of the ruling National Action Party. Fifty-three senators voted for the bill with 26 votes against. Hector Michel Camarena, an opposition senator from the Institutional Revolutionary Party, warned that although well intentioned, the law may go too far. "There are serious questions we have to carefully analyze so that through our spirit of fighting drug dealing, we don't end up legalizing," he said. "We have to get rid of the concept of the (drug) consumer."

To: bentway who wrote (286085)	4/29/2006 10:56:33 AM
From: RetiredNow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1575864

Good point. Then maybe a better idea is for Congress to appoint a special prosecuting attorney to investigate and prosecute the crimes of this administration. However, let's try to avoid all those damn Macarthy-era Congressional committees that interview and interview and interview and pontificate and posture and release Congressional summary reports, but don't do a damn thing that makes a difference except waste our PRECIOUS TIME. This country is going down the drain and we don't have time to waste on more crap. If the voters give Congress a new mandate by electing a Democratic majority, please please please please don't waste that opportunity by spending the next two years investigating and prosecuting. Pass some damn important laws around energy and Iraq instead. Get our troops home and get a responsible energy plan in place. After 9/11, Bush could have taken that world-wide sympathy and used it to make sure we never again had to depend on oil producing countries for our national security and economy. Instead, he's WASTED 6 years. I'm with tejek on this...I'm sick to death we have to wait 2 more years for this buffoon to leave office. I can't believe I voted for him in the first term. Biggest mistake of my life. The next best thing to having Bush impeached is for Democrats to wrest control from this neo-con version of the Republican party. At least that will help to minimize the damage Bush can do in his remaining 2 years.