Mexico Legalizes Drugs... 5 grams of pot OK

Well- they went overboard, but at least it's a new approach to the violent drug war. Legal now in Mexico is possession for personal use of up to 5 grams of marijuana, half a gram of coke, 50 milligrams of heroin, 40 milligrams methamphetamine and 0.015 Milligrams of LSD. You can't fix stupid I guess.

All together it's quite a weekend pharma-party with plenty of ups, downs and surprises. You can bet some spring break hotel will offer a package deal: a Pot and Coke Weekend, Baja desert full moon tour on LSD, The Tweeker Ball. Actually there are very strict rules about where and what you can do outside your home. If you go beyond the law three times, you get to move into a third-world rehab center. The stated purpose of the law is to free-up the local cops to chase bigger fish and to steer drug addicts into rehab. Nothing else has worked- so it's worth an open mind for a while I guess. I'm far from convinced another generation of drug users is a good thing.

In their defense, they do have affordable live-in drug rehab centers here and I passed one just yesterday on the drive out to Rincon Tropical on the dirtbike. The "brotherhood" as they are called, comes into town and collect money at intersections and sell newspapers to support the facility. I always see the same guys at every intersection for years- so they must not graduate and move on too often.

The street price of 5 grams is $12.50. Photos: AFN Network

Below: The retail sale and on site consumption of soft drugs in the Coffeeshops of Amsterdam.

Geezer on Geezer: Woooosh and the vintage dirtbike

A Baja dirt bike ride with Art and Emilio from Rosarito Beach to Rincon Tropical.

With all the negative you hear about Mexico in the press, it's easy to think nothing is safe, simple and beautiful in Baja any more. But while the narcos fight it out with everyone else- the rest of us go about our lives and still enjoy the beauty of Baja we moved here for. Baja Norte is very beautiful, mostly undeveloped and full of surprises. One nice and affordable surprise is Rincon Tropical-a locals hangout with swimming pool, bar, overnight cabanas, midget race cars and a petting zoo. The dirt road to Rincon winds through a canyon 8 miles inland from the beach. Once away from the coast it gets hot and dusty fast- a true Mediterranean climate. Lot's of agriculture- corn, cilantro, green onions and of course cows.

It's always great when my buddy Arturito (just Art- to you gringos) is in town for one of his visits. He's part of our family and a professional travelling house guest- we really should pitch him a reality show. He is the perfect house guest though and our 13 year old lab Duke is especially perked up by his visits- lifelong friends. CostCo must text him when we stock the fridge (we buy most all our food stateside) because he always hits us when the dinner menu is long.

g.

Art's an alpha male that motivates you. Art arrived today all hyped up after a hike in the desert with his brother- so I wasn't about to try to keep up with him on a bike. Emilio loves a bike challenge so I left the mountain bike race from the house to the Rincon Tropical to Art and my nephew Emilio.

I gassed up the 1976 Harley-Aermacchi SX250. It kicked right over- so I took that as a good sign for the day. I've restored it back to original condition- but I'm not afraid to ride it and get it dusty. (I had the exact same bike while in college in Colorado and drive it pretty much the same as I did then). It's been many months since I've ridden it and Emilio has been giving me grief about that. They left first and we all met down the canyon at Rincon Tropical. They took the single track trail that drops into Rincon Tropical- I took the winding dirt road through the canyon. We enjoyed a few Pacifico's (2 pacifico's and a soda- $4) and a swim. I headed back first- I've walked this bike home more than a few times... so I liked having a chase team behind me on bikes. :) Nice relaxing afternoon- no pedaling involved. A perfect day in Baja. Thanks Art!

Donated Lifeguard towers get their legs- But it's no Baywatch.

The lifeguard tower bases got their "casitas" today. It seems strange a tourist destination city like Rosarito Beach, with over 5000 people in the water every weekend- doesn't have a lifeguard culture (think Baywatch). The Lifeguards are a division of the Rosarito Beach Fire Department and they pass the lifeguard jobs out to friends and relatives. Same thing as with any institutional job in Mexico really. Not even a swim test.

Q: Why did San Diego donate five old lifeguard towers to Rosarito Beach when the city has one certified lifeguard? A: It was going to cost $20K to legally dispose of them stateside and $17K to strip the bases off and ship them to Mexico (read "donate"). What was supposed to be good press- got ugly when the "paperwork" wasn't ready and they were stuck at the border for a while. By "paperwork", they meant the dollar bill variety. You pay everyone for everything for every service twice- even to "donate" something.

Not many tourists (18-21 college aged kids mostly) drown here. If it's not a publicity problem, it's not a problem. But many Mexicans do drown here without it hitting the San Diego news- at the northern residential end of the beach though (mine). Mexicans mostly swim or wade fully clothed and that's a problem if a big set comes in and people lose their footing. We had an 18 year old friend of the family drown here while we were out of town two years ago. The "lifeguards" told the family the body would wash back up in two or three days (it did- they camped there are waited). They puttered around on a jet ski for 20 minutes but no one went in or under the water to look for him. Stateside that wouldn't happen- anywhere, ever.

I've never seen one guard here swim distances, run or even train in the six years we've been here. Living in California we saw them training every day-they would all run in a pack carrying their rescue buoys and then swim all the way back. I'm sure that was just their warm-up drill too.

There are no tryouts and competitive contests here for the coveted job of Lifeguard. In the states hundreds try out. It's not the money- because the job doesn't pay anything- anywhere really. It's about the passion to do it. The job here basically involves driving up and down the beach on a quad or a jetski, yelling at people to get out of the water, and giving your friends rides on the back. There are no junior lifeguard development programs or even adult lifeguard training programs.

In a generous offer extended every year, the California Lifeguard Academy offers Rosarito Beach as many training spots as they want for free. This year they sent one person for the first time. Just one. Next year they hope to send more. I can actually tell which guard he is by watching how slowly he patrols onhis ATV, how he watches the water surface and how he tracks the people in the water. No one becomes a master-trainer to train others from attending a seven day Academy program- but I hope the others learn from him for now a least.

Life Guarding is taken seriously everywhere but here and tower guards need to be specifically trained and focused (no distactions, no girlies n the casita, no smoking weed with your surfer freinds all day- for a start). People will now think their kids are safer because someone is manning the tower. If they take their eyes off their kids- they could wind up being camped out waiting for their return- just like what our friends suffered through.

6.9 Quakes all around us, and we got nothing...

You'd think we would have felt something. One 6.9 and a swarm of others less strong all happening around us. Buildings swayed 20 miles north in San Diego and throughout most of Baja but we didn't feel a thing. Nothing. Not even a wave in the pool.

If not for the automated Tsunami warnings we get from NOAA by e-mail, we wouldn't have known about it until we watched the news. So what do you do once you get a tsunami warning? You watch for the water to retreat exposing the ocean floor and if that starts to happen you head for the hills quick. Maybe. This house would probably be the only one left- and even then the garage and first floor would be cleaned out. We designed the house to handle three feet of water with minimal impact but who knows what 20 feet would do? The building has six concrete caissons going down to bedrock. The wall of water that would hit us would be free of debris- which is what causes most of the damage.

There are no posted "evacuation route" signs like stateside so people would know where to go (up). It would take us traveling five miles inland before we climbed any kind of hill for safety. Most locals wouldn't have a clue of what is going on or what to do. We all watched when the people in Phuket walked out on the dry ocean bottom- not knowing all that water is coming back at once.

So- faced with a Tsunami warning do you stay or do you go? We watch and stay. We would just worry too much about the house and the animals we left behind. So we would stay until we see the ocean floor and then make the decision to evacuate or ride it out. Won't know until it happens some day.