Because of this, marijuana is still not legal in Mexico (but could be soon)

After Mexican congressional leaders raised hopes late last week that a law would be passed by the end of 2021, they admitted that such a feat would not be accomplished. Full legalization may have to wait until 2022.

Mexico’s Supreme Court (Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación, or SCJN) has known to lift the cannabis ban in 2015, 2018 and last summer.

Why is it still not entirely legal to enjoy marijuana in the motherland of the Mota?

Because politicians are involved.

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The ban was lifted in 2015, 2018 and 2021, and yet …

The country’s highest court last ruled in June 2021 that laws banning the private use and home cultivation of recreational cannabis were invalid for human rights reasons. That ruling ordered Congress to draft laws to create a legal cannabis market – something Mexico’s leaders have not done since the court’s original ruling that lifted the 2017 ban.

The Supreme Court specifically called for a licensing system – the creation of a government-issued card that allows the holder to legally possess and consume cannabis – that is scheduled to go live next year.

But today, more than six months after the court’s most recent ruling, very little has changed. The approval system does not exist. Mexico’s lawmakers are still arguing over a long-deferred bill that would officially end cannabis bans across the country.

The result: cannabis smokers are still being criminalized. Despite the Supreme Court rulings, the police can and will stop people for cannabis possession.

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“Not much has changed”

“In reality, not much has changed in cannabis laws other than the fact that you can now ask for permission to grow cannabis in your own home without going through legal proceedings,” said Zara Snapp, co-founder of the Instituto think tank. for drug policy reform RIA.

“At the moment, nothing is legal about recreational cannabis unless you have a permit and no one has given it apart from those who took their cases to court,” added Snapp. “We are waiting for the government to officially respond to the Supreme Court amendments.”

After the Supreme Court repeatedly coerced its hand, Mexican lawmakers almost legalized cannabis in December 2020 when the Senate passed full law. These efforts then stalled in the House of Commons, the Mexican Cámara de Diputados.

The bickering, apathy, and delay that fuel a pandemic

A number of factors have delayed the passage of a full legalization bill in 2021: the coronavirus pandemic, lack of political will, minor disagreements, and elections.

“The ban is a hundred years old; What are a few more months? ‘
– Senate Chairman Ricardo Monreal

As summer gave way to autumn, hopes were raised again. Senate majority leader Ricardo Monreal, of the ruling Morena party, said in November that the Senate’s health and justice committees will pass a constitutionally sound, “high-level, progressive” cannabis law in the next few weeks.

Monreal’s remarks were an optimistic sign as his party effectively controls both houses of parliament. Tweets from the Chamber’s official account indicated that the legalization bill had been prioritized by senators who wanted to pass it before the end of the year.

Those hopes were dashed on December 10th when Monreal admitted that the Senate could not vote on a new bill. This bill had been unofficially circulating among legislators for a few weeks.

Monreal suggested that officials revising an earlier version were unable to prepare it in a timely manner in a form that would likely pass. “Fountain, [cannabis] The ban is a hundred years old, what if it’s a few more months, ”he said when asked about the renewed postponement.

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Beginning to mid-2022, passage now likely

Despite the missed deadline, Senate leaders still seem determined to pass a legalization bill in 2022.

“The law will be passed by the end of April at the latest,” predicted Senator Patricia Mercado of the Citizens’ Movement, when she admitted the likelihood of further ping-pongs. Highlighting another issue that split lawmakers after thousands of people were persecuted for low levels of cannabis for several years, she added, “We want the plant to be completely decriminalized.”

Expect fights for the market frame

Monreal previously welcomed the idea that “a hundred years of banning and criminalizing cannabis flower consumption” would soon end and could be replaced by “a multi-million dollar national and international market for the economic reactivation of ours. land could be an advantage. ”

However, the Senate Chairman has repeatedly warned against letting the legislature be influenced by industry lobbying on the potentially lucrative leisure market. “There are economic interests, there are lobbyists, there are tobacco industry interests, there are pharmaceutical industry interests, there are industry interests,” he said in April and later added: “We must not allow ourselves to be suppressed by interests. ”

The new bill is not perfect

The latest version of the bill, which shuttles back and forth between the two legislatures and is now due to re-enter the legislature in January 2022, proposes improving Mexico’s public health and greater respect for human rights through the legalization and regulation of cannabis.

Some have called for full decriminalization with no laws against mass cultivation and possession.

However, the new bill has been criticized for a number of restrictive provisions.

Smoking cannabis, for example, would only be allowed in private rooms and only if everyone present gave their consent. It also suggests fines of up to $ 500 for those owning more than an ounce and jail sentences for those weighing more than 200 grams. Farmers found growing unlicensed would also face a potential prison sentence of up to risk six years. These harsh penalties have provoked an increasing number of calls for full decriminalization.

The new bill also includes proposals to help victims of the drug war and ensure that 40% of cultivation licenses (for at least five years) go to people like Campesino cannabis growers whose crops have been previously destroyed. However, the new bill does not contain strong protection against cannabis imports that would protect the same local farmers.

Limited “cannabis associations”

Another twist in the new bill: cannabis associations with up to 20 members and four plants per person – similar to the Spanish model – would coexist with a commercial market monitored by the National Commission Against Drug Addiction. Many advocates of legalization consider it unconstitutional to limit the number of members of a legitimate civil society.

“For example, there are classic car clubs with thousands of members. So why can’t you have more than 20 people for cannabis? It’s unconstitutional, ”said Jorge Hernández Tinajero, political scientist at Mexico’s National Autonomous University and president of the Mexican Association of Cannabis Studies. “You framed the bills in an absurd way so that they could not be passed.” He suggests that these clauses could be part of an effort to make future laws accessible to big business.

Companies are preparing to get started

The Colombian-Canadian company Khiron Life Sciences (represented by one of its board members, the former Mexican President Vincente Fox), Canopy Growth from Canada, Green Organic Dutchman and various Californian companies are examining, among other things, whether they should enter a future legal Mexican market . According to reports, a Mexican company that has also partnered with Vicente Fox is poised to open 400 stores in key centers around the country to sell CBD and legal cannabis products over the next three years.

“We saw that in other countries like Canada, too,” adds Tinajero. “Once lawmakers understand that policies need to change, the first thing they do is create laws that are very restrictive for most people. Then your allies can become the first actors in the market. “

More about marijuana in Mexico

Mattha Busby

Mattha Busby is a freelance writer based in Mexico. His work has appeared in the Guardian, Observer, Vice, GQ, and other publications.

View article by Mattha Busby

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