Mexican Lawmakers Pass Bill to Legalize Drugs

The federal legislature of Mexico has passed a bill to legalize "small amounts of cocaine, heroin, even ecstasy" for personal use. President Vicente Fox's signature is expected to be forthcoming since his office has voiced support for the measure.

From KFMB.com:

Currently, Mexican law leaves open the possibility of dropping charges against people caught with drugs if they can prove they are drug addicts and if an expert certifies they were caught with "the quantity necessary for personal use."

The new bill drops the "addict" requirement, allows "consumers" to have drugs, and sets out specific allowable quantities, which do not appear in the current law.

Specifically, the new law would allow a person to carry the following:

- Marijuana (5 gms),
- Heroin (25 mgms),
- Cocaine (0.5 gm),
- Peyote (2.2 lbs), and
- An array of other drugs, including:

- Methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA),
- Methylenedioxymethamphetamine/Ecstasy (MDMA),
- Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD), and
- Amphetamines.

I am stunned! A person could be a legal walking pharmacy. More surprising is the fact that the measure is being pushed while drug addiction among Mexicans is increasing.

To be fair, though, the bill reportedly stiffens some penalties for trafficking and possession by government employees and near schools. In support of the bill, backers say it will free up police to go after major drug traffickers and avoid crowding jails with small-time offenders. Of course, using their logic, Mexico should legalize convenience store robberies to allow police to focus on bank heists.

Interestingly, the timing of the announcement of the intent to legalize drugs probably could not have come at a more troubling time. At present, tensions between the U.S. and Mexico are heightened due to a variety of factors. These include:

Monday's planned skip-work day by hard-working illegal aliens to prove that Mexicans are hard-workers. Ostensibly, the hardest workers will take the whole week or month off.

Hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens demonstrating in the streets, demanding citizenship, and carrying Mexican flags.

Calls by activists to open the borders to hard-working trespassers while tagging as racist anyone who wants a secure border.

Prisons and jails, hospital emergency rooms, school systems, and welfare rolls all being overburdened by illegals.

And, not a small issue, calls for the Star Spangled Banner to be sung in Spanish.

Not to be overly dramatic, but I feel that someone unwelcome moved into my house and there is nobody to call for help. My only options are to tolerate the trespassers or leave my home. It didn't used to be that way. I recall when the government protected and defended the citizens and territorial boundaries of the United States.

Nevertheless, with all the existing problems associated with having an imaginary border between the U.S. and Mexico, the last thing needed is the implied promise that every illegal alien crossing the border will soon be carrying "personal use" amounts of a variety of illicit drugs. To quote the Mayor of San Diego, Jerry Sanders, it's "appallingly stupid." I agree.