[JURIST] Mexican President Vicente Fox [official website, in Spanish] has sent a bill that would decriminalize the possession of small portions of such traditionally-illegal drugs as heroin, cocaine and marijuana back to Congress, reversing a statement from his office the day before that Fox would sign the bill into law [JURIST report]. Fox said Wednesday that he sent the bill back to Congress [press release, in Spanish] for changes "to make it absolutely clear in our country, the possession of drugs and their consumption are, and will continue to be, a criminal offense."

The US government and US lawmakers have criticized the bill as the antithesis of helping the war against drugs, expressing concern that the proposal could result in "drug tourism" and would have indirectly increased the already high occurrence of personal drug use in the United States. AP has more.