We thought we were celebrating recreational grass legalization in Mexico – we were wrong

Two months ago we did Postedto celebrate the passage by the Mexican Lower Chamber of the Cannabis Bill Bill, presented to it by the Mexican Senate last November. In this post I wrote: “The bill is now being sent back to the Mexican Senate, where it is expected to be passed as good as written, after which it will go to the executive branch for publication.”

Oops.

A little over a month ago, the Senate not only ended its session without approving the law, it also ignored the Supreme Court order (from 2018). As a reminder, Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that the federal government’s ban on the use of marijuana was unconstitutional and ordered Congress to pass a reform to legalize recreational use within 90 days. Since then, the court has set several deadlines for congressional action, with April 30, 2021 being the last.

Photo by John Coletti / Getty Images

The only obligation of Congress under the Supreme Court mandate was to regulate the cultivation and use of cannabis for personal use, but for a long time members of Congress publicly stated that they would seek to provide a framework for creating a cannabis industry .

RELATED: Mexico Failures to Legalize Marijuana as Chaos Grows in Drugs War

Unfortunately, politics intervened. In Mexico, as in many other countries, cannabis is a polarizing topic. Social conservatives use the topic to scare voters (¡drogas!) About the intentions of the opposition and to reassure them about their own references.

In the run-up to last Sunday’s elections, the Senate backed off its commitment on the issue, apparently preferring to shift any political setback to the Supreme Court, which back in 2018 said it would end the government ban on recreational marijuana repeal if Congress has not decided on reforms. To make matters worse, the composition of the Supreme Court has changed slightly since its 2018 ruling and the issuance of a general declaration of unconstitutionality would require the support of eight out of eleven judges.

Where are things today for cannabis companies (or startups) interested in the Mexican market?

RELATED: Mexico’s Cannabis Legalization Law Will Boost Business, But There Are Concerns

The final result of the elections will of course be an important factor. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s MORENA party appeared to maintain its plurality in the lower chamber of the Mexican Congress, but lost a significant number of seats and has to go with its allies in the Labor Party (PT in Spanish) and the Green Party (PVEM, in Spanish) to legislate.

This is good news for cannabis companies; MORENA politicians and lawmakers were the originators of the Cannabis Act and are most likely to push for further measures to be passed such as: B. resuming at the next Senate session, which is slated to begin September 1, 2021, would likely have postponed the creation of a legal framework to underpin the development of a cannabis industry until the political winds turned again.

Photo by Flickr user Jorge Mendoza-Torres

Another question is whether or not the Supreme Court is issuing a Universal Declaration of Unconstitutionality regarding the government’s ban on recreational marijuana use. If it moves forward and at least eight judges vote in favor, existing legislation will be removed from Mexican law, creating a legal vacuum in which no law on the non-medicinal use of marijuana would apply.

RELATED: Medical Cannabis Is Fully Legal In Mexico: Now What?

If the Supreme Court meets to consider the issue of a general declaration of unconstitutionality, but the majority of judges disagree, consumers must continue to contact the Federal Commission for the Protection of Health Risks (in Spanish Comisión Federal para la Protección contra Riesgos Sanitarios, or COFEPRIS ) for a permit for self-cultivation / self-consumption and must continue to file Amparo lawsuits (lawsuits in federal courts that oblige the government to defend their actions) in the event of non-response or denial.

One final factor to consider: As in the United States, Mexican state lawmakers have a different view of cannabis than their state counterparts, and I’ve been told that lawmakers in many states are drafting laws that pave the way for a legal industrial hemp industry. Again, the outcome of yesterday’s election will be critical to the development of this story, but that would certainly be good news for industry stakeholders and consumers.

RELATED: Breaking News! Brazil is aiming for the legalization of cannabis

The above is an update on the political situation governing the development of recreational cannabis and industrial hemp businesses in Mexico. I will post again shortly with my suggestions on how cannabis companies and investors should respond to this news.

Adrián Cisneros Aguilar is an attorney at Harris Bricken overseeing the firm’s Mexico practice, where he has served corporations on cross-border U.S.-Mexican legal matters, including cannabis law matters, Latin American and European companies in China and international legal matters, and local companies involved in international and domestic transactions.

This article originally appeared on the Canna Law Blog and was republished with permission.