Mexican president’s proposal would end penalties for possession of small amounts of drugs

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President Felipe Calderon sent a proposal to Mexico’s Congress that would scrap the penalties for possession of small amounts of drugs, including cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, opium and marijuana.

‘What we are seeking is to not treat an addict as a criminal, but rather as a sick person and give them psychological and medical treatment,’ said Sen. Alejandro Gonzalez, head of the Senate’s justice committee.

Under the plan, people carrying up to 2 grams of marijuana or opium, half a gram of cocaine, 50 milligrams of heroin or 40 milligrams of methamphetamine would face no criminal charges, say Times wire reports.

The Associated Press reports that a Mexican government study released last month found that the number of addicts in the country has nearly doubled, from 158,000 to 307,000, since 2002.

Experts say the increase is partly due to a U.S. crackdown on trafficking along the Mexico-U.S. border that has forced drug cartels to sell more of their products domestically.

Since 2006, Calderon has sent more than 20,000 troops nationwide to battle drug cartels that are engaged in a bloody turf war for control of lucrative smuggling routes.

But drug violence has only increased, with rising murder rates, frequent shootouts and gruesome decapitations.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

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