THIS IS YOUR SOUTHERN NEIGHBOR ON DRUGS

Talk about bad timing!

Days before massive protests organized to demand that the U.S. government capitulate to millions of illegal immigrants and their supporters, the Mexican government and Vicente Fox disregard their professed commitment to the war on drugs.

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexicans would be allowed to possess small amounts of cocaine, heroin, even ecstasy for their personal use under a bill approved by lawmakers that some worry could prove to be a lure to young Americans.

The bill now only needs President Vicente Fox's signature to become law and that does not appear to be an obstacle. His office said that decriminalizing drugs will free up police to focus on major dealers.

By signing the bill, Fox will also free up addicts, and consequently lead to crime that will certainly spill into the U.S.

...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.

Those quantities are sometimes eye-popping: Mexicans would be allowed to posses 2.2 pounds of peyote, the button-sized hallucinogenic cactus used in some Indian religious ceremonies.

Police would no longer bother with possession of up to 25 milligrams of heroin, 5 grams of marijuana (about one-fifth of an ounce, or about four joints), or 0.5 grams of cocaine - the equivalent of about 4 "lines," or half the standard street-sale quantity.

The law lays out allowable quantities for a large array of other drugs, including LSD, MDA, MDMA (ecstasy, about two pills' worth), and amphetamines.

Right.

What a totally irresponsible move!

Just when Mexico is pressuring the U.S. to provide employment for its people and to force American taxpayers to cover their health benefits and educate them, Mexico proves that it is not a reliable ally in the war on drugs.

San Diego officials are having a fit over this, and rightfully so.

SAN DIEGO -- San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders Friday called a bill passed by Mexico's Congress decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana, cocaine and heroin for personal use "appallingly stupid."

...District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis called the bill a "critical mistake."

"For us here in San Diego, we are a global community with Tijuana and Baja California," Dumanis said. "There may be a border, but really our lives are intertwined. Now more addicts will pour into our streets."

San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne said Mexico's decision will lead to increased crime rates in the city.

Lansdowne argued that users and addicts are now going to enter Mexico for drugs and then come back across the border under the influence.

"They are the ones most prone to commit acts of violence," Lansdowne said.

Sanders said the bill could “not come at a worse time” for Mexicans during the national debate over immigration.

"I think it completely changes the arguments that are being talked about by the different sides," Sanders said. "I think this is going to stiffen the issues. I think that it's going to be necessary to have a much more secure border."

I applaud the San Diego officials for showing some backbone.

It's time for U.S. politicians -- federal, state, and local -- to quit pandering to people who have no respect for our laws.

I wonder if panderers Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschalger and AG candidate Kathleen Falk would be so receptive to the demands of illegal immigrants if Mexico sat on Wisconsin's southern border instead of Illinois.

Decriminalizing drugs, like decriminalizing illegal immigration, doesn't solve the problem. It merely signals defeat for the rule of law and a surrender of principles.