Weed Watch

Cracking under pressure – mainly applied by American Drug War soldiers – Mexican President Vicente Fox earlier this month withdrew his support for a bill that would have legalized possession of small amounts of drugs – everything from marijuana to cocaine and heroin – sending the bill back to Mexican legislators for some (pardon the pun) "tweaking." Praised by drug policy reformers, the thinking behind the bill was that decriminalizing low-level possession would free up law enforcement resources, both manpower and money, to combat the threat posed by the ever-strengthening Mexican drug cartels (whose power has been boosted in the wake of several high-profile arrests of Colombian cartel honchos) that have been implicated in the increased violence in Mexican border towns like Nuevo Laredo. Nonetheless, the plan did not go over well in places like San Diego, the United States' largest border city, where Mayor Jerry Sanders blasted the idea as "appallingly stupid," and, reportedly, federal officials then began a string of private meetings with Mexican officials to discourage the legislation. In a subsequent press release, Fox's administration said that the bill would be sent back to Congress so that lawmakers could make the "needed corrections so it is absolutely clear in our country the possession of drugs and their consumption are, and will continue to be, a criminal offense." The amended legislation has yet to surface.

In other news, from the Dept. of Really Bad Ideas, two Dallas-area 18-year-olds, Ian Walker and Joseph Tellini, are now facing multiple felony charges of assault on a public servant for serving marijuana-laced bran muffins to school office employees at Northeast Dallas' Lake Highlands High School on May 16. What began as a juvenile prank quickly became a bad trip when school officials who'd eaten the muffins – which Walker reportedly said he'd baked as part of an Eagle Scout project – began complaining of nausea, headaches, and lightheadedness. That prompted the FBI to get involved – in the event that the illnesses were caused by terrorist-related food supply contamination. While the inquiry failed to turn up terrorist intent, chemical testing did reveal pot in the pastries, sending Walker and Tellini to the pokey. "They were just thinking it would be fun to get these teachers all silly and giggly," 86-year-old school receptionist Rita Greenfield told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "I do not think of this as a prank at all. It has caused heartaches and hard feelings." Greenfield spent two days in the hospital after consuming the muffins – in part, reports The Dallas Morning News, because she "couldn't stop laughing."