Legalization in Mexico

San Diego officials are very upset:

Mayor Jerry Sanders and other local officials were astounded to hear that Mexico is close to legalizing an array of drugs--from marijuana to heroin--for personal use.

"I view this as a hostile action by a longtime ally of the U.S.," Sanders said at a City Hall news conference.

Mexico's Congress approved a bill yesterday that would allow possession of small quantities of marijuana, Ecstasy, cocaine and even heroin.

Actually the bill in question makes nothing legal; it only defines how small a fry is too small to prosecute. "Zero tolerance" never makes economic or legal sense and the Mexican Senate at least has the intelligence to recognize that.

The full text of the bill is here. (No wonder there's such confusion--it's written in a foreign language.) Notice that the Mexican Senate can distinguish between narcotics, psycotropics, and stimulants, which is more than you can say for the Congress of the United States.