MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Vicente Fox, in a surprise reversal, announced May 3 he will not sign a drug bill legalizing possession of illicit drugs passed by Mexico’s Congress five days earlier. In a statement, Fox said he will ask the Congress to change the bill “to make it absolutely clear in our country, the possession of drugs and their consumption are, and will continue to be, a criminal offense.”
His statement noted a “sensitivity toward the opinions expressed by various sectors of society” about the proposed law. In the days prior to Fox’s reversal, his spokesman had praised the bill and insisted that Fox would quickly sign it, Reuters news service reported. The initial version of the bill had been drafted by Fox’s office and introduced by his National Action Party.
Controversy over the bill erupted over its provision that “consumers” as well as addicts could possess small amounts of heroin (25 milligrams), cocaine (500 milligrams), marijuana (5 grams) and other harmful drugs such as LSD so that law enforcement officials could turn more of their attention on drug dealers and the country’s escalating drug-related violence. The law threatened to become a major point of contention in the immigration debate.
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