Well, on the bright side, this will solve the immigration problem.

This will escalate the US-Mexico tension to the point where the president, citing his authority as commander-in-chief of the 'War on Drugs' will authorize the invasion of Mexico, making it the 51st state.

All Mexicans will become defacto US citizens, solving most of the immigration problem.

Actually Rich, that might not be a bad idea, really. Then we can take Puerto Rico and bitch slap them just for funsies and make em a state already!

I think you may be onto something here! :D

You wanna know what REALLY persuaded Fox that this bill could not be made law? The feedback from the travel industry and tourism business sank it ;) It has been all over the news here, and not just from church groups, that nobody will give their kids money for Spring Break and people will not book tours if they know they are staying in a place where heroin can be used freely by the people who are supposed to be taking care of you while you are down there.

He is more of an idiot each day, I can see why he likes Dubya so much.

Mexican President Rejects Congressional Measure Codifying "Personal Use" Limits For Cannabis, Other Controlled Substances

Mexico City, Mexico: Mexican President Vincente Fox yesterday rejected legislation that sought to clarify the quantities of cannabis and other controlled substances that "consumers" may possess without facing criminal penalties. Fox abruptly abandoned his support for the measure after US bureaucrats at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the State Department denounced the proposal, saying that it could promote "drug tourism."

As passed by Congress last Friday, the proposal set specific limits on the amount of cannabis (five grams) and other drugs allowable under federal law. Mexican law already exempts criminal penalties for those individuals who possess minor quantities of illicit substances for personal use; however, the law fails to define what amounts constitute personal use. As a result, police and judges must decide on a case-by-case basis whether to punish citizens caught possessing minor amounts of illicit drugs.

The proposed measure also authorized state and local police to enforce drug trafficking laws. Under current law, only federal police (about five percent of Mexico's law enforcement personnel) may arrest individuals suspected of selling drugs.

President Fox rejected the bill on Wednesday, stating, "Congress ... [needs] ... to make it absolutely clear in our country [that] the possession of drugs and their consumption [is], and will continue to be, a criminal offense." Officials from the US State Department and the White Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) had met with Mexico's ambassador earlier this week urging the President to "review the legislation and to avoid the perception that drug use would be tolerated in Mexico and to prevent drug tourism."

Fox said that he would send the bill back to Congress with proposed amendments.

In recent years, US officials have voiced similar disapproval against legislative proposals to liberalize marijuana and other illicit drug possession penalties in Canada, Jamaica, and Australia all of which eventually stalled due at least in part to US opposition.

For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, or Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500.

Or it could have been the cops and prosecutors who would no longer be able to remind wayward rich American kids that they had the discretion on whether to charge them or not.

That would represent an extreme loss of personal income for them, I believe.

Well... if they legalized it would have represented one to me... there is balance in the universe.