MEXICO - In a bid to free up government resources to crackdown on dealers and traffickers rather than small-time users, President Felipe Calderon has proposed the decriminalization of the possession of small amounts of various drugs.

Under the new proposals, those caught with less than two grams of marijuana, 50 milligrams of heroin, 40 milligrams of amphetamines or 500 milligrams of cocaine will escape punishment. Those deemed to be “addicts” would be offered rehabilitation.

“What we are looking to do is treat the addict not as a criminal but as someone with a medical condition and then to give them appropriate medical or psychological treatments,” Senator Alejandro Gonzalez told the Reuters news service. The law would make a clear distinction between the penalties for consumption and selling illegal drugs.

According to the National Center for Addictions, the consumption of illegal drugs in Mexico has risen 50 percent in the last two years.

“In no way does (the proposed law) represent the legalization of drugs. It’s just facing up to reality,” said Mexican Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova Villalobos.

The response of the United States to the potential decriminalization of drugs south of its border is, as yet, unknown. In 2004, Former President Vicente Fox proposed a similar bill, which passed through both the Congress and the Senate. It was about to be enacted before being vetoed by Fox himself.  Pressure from Washington is generally held to be the reason for his u-turn.

The law also proposes shifting some drug-related offenses into state courts, to reduce the backlog of cases clogging the federal legal system.

The left-of-center Social Democratic Party supports the law change and believes that an increase in the regulation of drugs could reduce Calderon’s dependence on the military in his battle with the drug cartels.

“I believe they are realizing that the militarization of the conflict and the declared ‘war on drugs’ isn’t helping things,” said Social Democratic Party National President Jorge Diaz Cuervo.

The Calderon administration, however, has shown no sign that it will slow down its campaign against drug trafficking gangs. Since taking office in December 2006, thousands of federal police officers and soldiers have been deployed to states most affected by narcotraficantes. In the resulting bloodbath, more than 4,500 people have been killed as gangs fight between themselves and with the military.