Mexican president to sign drug decriminalization bill

Mexican president to signdrug decriminalization bill
MEXICO CITY -- Mexican President Vicente Fox will sign into law a measure that decriminalizes the possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs for personal use, his spokesman said Tuesday. Spokesman Ruben Aguilar defended the law, which was approved Friday by Mexico's Senate, despite criticism in the United States that it could increase casual drug use. "The president is going to sign this law," said Aguilar, who called the legislation "a better tool ... that allows better action and better coordination in the fight against drug dealing." "The government believes that this law represents progress, because it established the minimum quantities that a citizen can carry for personal use," Aguilar said. Under current Mexican law, judges can drop charges against people caught with drugs if they can prove they are addicts and if an expert certifies they were caught with "the quantity necessary for personal use." The new bill makes the decriminalization automatic and drops the addict requirement -- automatically letting any "consumers" have drugs. While police will still be able to detain people for public consumption or possession of drugs, it appears that those caught could only be referred to a treatment program -- of which Mexico has few -- or have their names added to a registry of addicts.
America lags behindEngland in health study
CHICAGO -- White, middle-aged Americans -- even those who are rich -- are far less healthy than their peers in England, according to stunning new research that erases misconceptions and has experts scratching their heads. Americans had higher rates of diabetes, heart disease, strokes, lung disease and cancer -- findings that held true no matter what income or education level. Those dismal results are despite the fact that U.S. health-care spending is double what England spends on each of its citizens. "Everybody should be discussing it: Why isn't the richest country in the world the healthiest country in the world?" asks study co-author Dr. Michael Marmot, an epidemiologist at University College London in England. The study, based on government statistics in both countries, adds context to the already-known fact that the United States spends more on health care than any other industrialized nation, yet trails in rankings of life expectancy.
Disney World replacesride after two deaths
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Walt Disney World said Tuesday that it will offer another, tamer version of its Mission: Space attraction, less than three weeks after a woman became ill on the ride and later died. The $100 million ride spins tourists in a centrifuge that subjects them to twice the normal force of gravity. The alternative ride will open this summer and will run next to the original. It will not have a centrifuge, said Disney spokeswoman Kim Prunty. The current version is so intense that some riders have been taken to hospitals with chest pain. Two of its 11.8 million riders have died since it opened in August 2003. German tourist Hiltrud Bluemel, 49, died April 12, one day after she went on the ride. A preliminary medical examiner's report showed Bluemel died of brain bleeding.
Armenian plane crashes
MOSCOW -- An Armenian plane carrying at least 100 people crashed in bad weather early today off Russia's Black Sea coast as it was headed in for landing, emergency officials said. There was no sign of survivors. Wreckage from the plane was found not far from the shoreline, Beltsov said. The Interfax news agency reported that rescue teams at the site pulled the body of a woman from the sea, and cited a coast guard official, Vladislav Kozlitin, as saying body parts were also found.
Fire at warehouse complexevokes memories of 9/11
NEW YORK -- A raging fire laid waste to a complex of seven old warehouses on the Brooklyn waterfront Tuesday, creating a huge plume of smoke that evoked memories of the World Trade Center attacks nearly five years ago. Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said the cause of the 10-alarm fire would be investigated as possible arson. He called it the largest fire in the city in more than a decade, excluding the trade center attack. The flames were clearly visible from the east side of Manhattan, where rubberneckers slowed morning rush-hour traffic. The acrid smoke, smelling at times of wood, rose in a huge black cloud visible for miles. The fire started before dawn, blazed furiously for six hours and continued burning into the early evening. More than 400 firefighters were called to the scene, and five fireboats pumped water on the blaze from the East River. The ruined warehouse complex was part of a historic waterfront area marked for redevelopment as high-rise housing. The complex was officially unoccupied, though it was unclear whether squatters were living there, fire officials said.
Associated Press