Update
On June 28th, the Supreme Court Chief Justice Arturo Zaldívar who, after an 8 to 3 vote against the declaration of unconstitutionality to the prohibition of legalization of marijuana, said that it was a “historic day for freedom.”
Following this resolution, Mexicans will be able to request permits to consume and carry marijuana from the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris), an organization of the Ministry of Health.
However, Judge Norma Lucía Piña, speaker of the project, clarified that “in no case is it authorized to import, trade or supply” marijuana, which will not create a recreational cannabis market in Mexico for now.
Piña considered that this statement “removes the legal obstacle for the Ministry of Health to authorize activities related to the self-consumption of cannabis and THC for recreational purposes, respecting the free development of the personality.”
However Mexican president Andres Obrador warned that if decriminalization of marijuana “hurts” there will be a reverse.
He said that he respected the decision of the Supreme Court endorsing recreational use, but that it will be necessary to see “what effects it has in practice.” The president also ruled out that giving free rein to the commercialization of marijuana, as is already the case in several countries, such as Uruguay, Canada, and in numerous US states. He added that he would act “if we see that it does not help, that it is not good for the country, that it is not good for facing the serious problem of drug addiction, that it is not good for stopping the violence.”
(June 27th, Mexico City) Hundreds in México City demanded legalization in protest of the delay that regulates the consumption of Cannabis, and to celebrate the International day of Marijuana, demanding Mexico become the third country, after Canada and Uruguay, to approve recreative use of Cannabis.
The protesters have been asking for decriminalization and commercialization of Marijuana products.
The Law for consumption and production commercialization was approved by the Congress in March, 2021, and it was expected the Senate would also approve it during April. However, the modifications to the law made by the Deputies were not approved by the Senate, so an appeal was made for an extension to the Supreme Court. This delay has lasted two years. Morena, the political party lead by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador before taking the power, proposed the legalization.
The goal, however, is more ambitious. The proposal is to decriminalize all the drugs, including heroin and cocaine. Cocaine has been cultivated in South America but more recently in the Mexican state of Guerrero as journalist Ricardo Ravelo reports.
In México cannabis consumption is often done openly, and marijuana is readily found. It is traditionally used for medicinal purposes (relief from pain mostly) and, of course, for pleasure. Lately, CBD products from the United States have appeared in the underground market, too.
There is an ancestral tradition of the use of more than five hundred medicinal herbs in México, including Cannabis. In fact, the Universidad de Salud Natural de Chapingo (Natural health University of Chapingo) promotes certifications and produces more than one hundred herbs and natural mixed herbs with medicinal scientific verification.
This new law for cannabis legal production, distribution, commercialization analysis of quality and purity, derivative products (cannabis have 130 active elements) and consumption still has some legislative hurdles to clear before enactment. Marijuana consumers and sponsoring Morena Party promoters predict it will be approved before the end of 2021.
Carlos Calderon Bustos is Head Magazine’s Special Correspondent in Mexico. He is a journalist, nutritionist, holistic healer, sports paramedic and weight training expert in Mexico City.
