"Health & Medical News"

Mexico’s war on drug cartels more resembles a military campaign than law enforcement, with federal troops taking on heavily armed traffickers, the New York Times reported Jan. 22.

Battles have included troops firing 50-caliber machine guns mounted on jeeps and Mexican Navy jets flying reconnaissance missions, with clashes in cities like Tijuana and Rio Bravo. Often, the fight pits the federal authorities against both the drug cartels and corrupt police. “You cannot count on the local police,” said one federal official in Reynosa. “The problem lies in the state police. They are completely at the service of these guys.”

Popularity: unranked [?]

The New Mexico Department of Health would issue licenses to individuals and organizations to legally provide medical marijuana under draft rules unveiled last week, the Associated Press reported Dec. 4.

The license would allow patients, caregivers, state-run programs or private entities to legally manufacture and distribute marijuana for medical use. The draft rules will be open for public comment starting in late December, and a public hearing will be held in January.

Popularity: unranked [?]

New Mexico officials denied a liquor license to US Airways after witnesses said they saw flight attendants serving alcohol to a visibly intoxicated passenger, the Albuquerque Journal reported Nov. 17.

The alleged incident occurred on the eve of the one-year anniversary of a horrific car crash involving a drunk US Airways passenger who killed six people. The driver, Dana Papst, was drinking on the flight before landing and getting behind the wheel of his car.

Popularity: unranked [?]

The Bush administration’s proposed billion-dollar antidrug partnership with Mexico was met with harsh criticism in the House Foreign Relations Committee this week, the Los Angeles Times reported Nov. 15.

Panel member examining the $1.4-billion plan for the first time — U.S. and Mexican officials had largely hashed out the details of the so-called Merida Initiative behind closed doors — said that more money should be spend to “curb the appetite” for drugs and worried that Mexican corruption would bleed money away from the program.

Popularity: unranked [?]

A multibillion-dollar anti-drug pact between the U.S. and Mexico could fail unless it includes action against the cartel’s money supplies and improvements in police intelligence, Reuters reported Oct. 23.

Much of the $1.4 billion that the Bush administration wants to send to Mexico would be spent on helicopters and other equipment. But Ernesto Mendieta, a former Mexican prosecutor and security advisor, said, “More helicopters won’t make a difference because you are only dealing with the armed side of the cartels. You’ve got to go after their finances and find out where their banks accounts are. That is the way to weaken them.”

Popularity: unranked [?]

After months of secret negotiations, the Bush administration announced that it will seek $500 million from Congress for a joint anti-drug campaign with the Mexican government, the Washington Post reported Oct. 23.

The money would be used to buy helicopters, communications gear and inspection equipment, and pay for training and canine units in Mexico as that country’s military and police battle powerful drug cartels. The funding request will be included in a $46-billion supplemental budget request for fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The total aid package to Mexico would total $1.4 billion over several years, if approved.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Mexican officials say the U.S. has committed to giving their country $1 billion over two years to fight drug trafficking, the Washington Post reported Oct. 5.

Carlos Rico, Mexico’s undersecretary for North American affairs, said the Joint Strategy to Combat Organized Crime — which would have to be approved by the U.S. Congress — would be similar in scope to the multiyear, multi-billion-dollar Plan Colombia. U.S. lawmakers say that President Bush is expected to call for an emergency appropriation to get the funding approved this fall.

Popularity: unranked [?]