U.S. warms to Mexico's drug decriminalization law

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Washington is closely watching Mexico's recent decriminalization of drugs but respects its neighbor's move as a tool in the fight against drug cartels, two senior U.S. officials said on Thursday.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon last month signed a law legalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, heroin, opium, cocaine, methamphetamine and LSD for personal use, three years after the country ditched a similar plan under pressure from the Bush administration.

More than 13,000 people have died in Mexico's drug war since late 2006. The escalating conflict appears to have nudged the United States, now under the Obama administration, toward quiet support despite its own prohibitionist federal laws.

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INTERVIEW-Mexico drug law is "tool" against cartels - U.S. | Reuters

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Groups lobbying for the reform of U.S. drug policies hope Mexico's law could help ignite a change at home, where President Barack Obama has taken a less confrontational approach to the nation's 35 million illegal drug users.