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Mexico Legalizes Minimum Possession of Drugs

Mexico's new ruling to legalize small amounts of narcotics seems to lean towards curbing corruption and extortion of casual users by Mexican police rather than the safety of it's public in whole. The provision does call for mandatory rehabilitation after three fouls. The Associated Press reported that "the new law sets out maximum "personal use" amounts for drugs, also including LSD and methamphetamine. People detained with those quantities no longer face criminal prosecution."

Bernardo Espino del Castillo of the attorney general's office stated, "in practice, small users almost never did face charges anyway. Under the previous law, the possession of any amount of drugs was punishable by stiff jail sentences, but there was leeway for addicts caught with smaller amounts." Espino del Castillo concluded, "The bad thing was that it was left up to the discretion of the detective, and it could open the door to corruption or extortion." Government law officials are hoping that the new changes will help authorities focus on stopping larger traffickers.
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