Mexico Legalizes 'Personal-Use' Drugs

In an effort to garner control in the battle against drug traffickers, Mexico has passed a new law that decriminalizes small amounts of drugs by setting maximum “personal use” amounts on marijuana, cocaine, heroin, LSD, and methamphetamine. A person will no longer be arrested if found with 5 grams of marijuana (or 4 joints), a half-gram for cocaine (or 4 lines), 50 milligrams of heroin, 40 milligrams of methamphetamine, or 0.015 milligrams of LSD. “This is not legalization,” assured Bernardo Espino del Castillo of the attorney general’s office. “This is regulating the issue and giving citizens greater legal certainty.” Under the new law, anyone caught with drug quantities below the limit will be encouraged to seek treatment, until the third time a person is caught when treatment becomes mandatory.