In Mexico, this city has ordered its cops to let everyone smoke weed — and not just on April 20th
OAXACA DE JUÁREZ — Cannabis users here in Mexico’s culinary capital celebrated April 20 by smoking and eating a neon green weed-infused cake in front of police.
As heavily armed police looked on, activists passed out slices of the pastel along with copies of a recent letter from a local authority – the first of its kind in Mexico – giving the green light to public smoking of marijuana. When the clock struck 4:20 p.m. on April 20, about 300 people set themselves on fire before consuming the eye-catching cake.
What is remarkable about the scene is not so much the celebration of April 20th. As a matter of fact, the same acts are now legal in Oaxaca de Juárez, the capital of Oaxaca state, on April 21st, April 22nd and every day thereafter.
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City to Cops: Let our people smoke
Days before April 20 — in an almost surreal twist typical of life in Mexico — the Oaxaca City Council ordered police to end an allegedly common practice of harassing cannabis users who smoke in public. In a letter of consolation (ie a city policy statement), the council recognized the peaceful campaign by the activist group Plantón 4:20 to “defend their rights”.
The groundbreaking local policy did not come after the passage of any new law or decree, but simply reflected the community’s acceptance that there was no local law to prevent public cannabis use in a country where possession of up to 5 grams since is legal 2009.
Oaxaca City is the first city in Mexico, a historic melting pot of the global drug war, to explicitly allow cannabis use in broad daylight.
City for Consumers: Read the Room
The city’s letter contained a warning to consumers to express their newfound freedom with respect for those around them.
“There is no municipal ordinance that specifically prohibits the responsible personal use of cannabis in public spaces,” the letter reads. “Consumers are urged to avoid consuming cannabis in places where there are children or where others expressly disagree.
“This municipal authority calls on the municipal police [to] not to cause any inconvenience to consumers’ and only to urge consumers to move on if they smoke around children or those who are strongly opposed to it.
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Federal legalization still in progress, slowly
As Leafly previously reported, federal laws regarding cannabis use remain unclear and unclear. Legislation in Mexico has remained slow on legalization following a series of Supreme Court rulings overturning the ban. As the federal process stalls, the fragrant tailwind of change is gaining momentum in state and local policies, as we see in Oaxaca this month.
Congress is expected to legalize later this year after court rulings effectively obliged them to act. These court rulings are urging lawmakers to act, despite President Andres Manual Lopez Obrador’s own hesitation. The president’s most recent statement on the matter came last summer, when he proposed the idea of a national referendum on legalization, which he says has no consensus.
The Oaxaca scene on April 20th this year
On April 20 at El Llano Park in the center of the Oaxaca state capital, some locals told Leafly that they had decided to smoke in public for the first time ever due to council policy.
“We smoked secretly, never in public,” said local judo instructor Moises Velasco as he smoked a purro. “The police would take you to the train station, even for a small fee, and blackmail you. But I’m happy to be here today after this big step forward. I didn’t think it would happen so quickly, even though we’re still surrounded by the police in this park.”
Cannabis was not sold at the event, unlike protest smoke-ups in Mexico City, where activists often ignore the fact that sales remain illegal. Tony Presidio of Plantón 4:20, the organization that led the demonstrations, regularly informed participants – representing a cross-section of society – that under federal law they can only carry up to 5 grams and cannot buy or sell in public.
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“We are happy and will act responsibly”
His warnings came amid cheers at the microphone while other speakers took turns gently taunting the machine-gun-armed groups of police officers who were drinking soda and leaning on armored vehicles nearby.
“This is Rico’s first public cannabis culture festival in the city of Oaxaca,” said Presidio, who has played a significant role in the long-running incense protest in front of the Senate in Mexico City. “We have a document that supports us and brings us peace. The police can no longer rob, injure and beat us. We are happy and will behave responsibly. We are in the eyes of the whole country.”
Presidio got on one knee and held a copy of the council letter in a clenched fist, which he held up. In the other hand he waved a joint. Defiant tears of joy filled the corners of his eyes.
A city with a culture of activism
Oaxaca de Juárez is known for serious political activism, sometimes fatally repressed by the authorities.
4/20 was the culmination of three months of riotous activism in the city. At a protest in February, Tony Presidio was arrested along with three others who were open smokers – perhaps wanting to be jailed like Extinction Rebellion activists. But he was arrested for an offense against public order, not a cannabis-related crime.
This prompted activists to investigate municipal laws where they could not find a law prohibiting cannabis use.
“Our community is an important part of community life in the city and authorities recognized that there was a small gap,” said an activist who identified herself as Magic Jane. She is the organizer of the Plantón 4:20 women’s network in Oaxaca.
A new way to drive decriminalization
The promising response from Oaxaca city leaders could prompt similar tactics to be tried in other cities across Mexico.
“Oaxaca shows that decriminalizing public cannabis use is possible without changing the law,” said Jorge Hernández Tinajero, president of the Mexican Association for Cannabis Studies. “A little political will and a little guidance from the police and government departments is enough to prevent consumers from being falsely labeled as dealers and their arrest being used by the police to stage a fight against drug trafficking, which is really only against most led is vulnerable.”
At this year’s 4/20 protests in Oaxaca, between rap performances and a mix of reggae and cumbia music, activists made it clear that one of the next steps is to change the broader perception of cannabis. The city council’s historic letter, which encourages activists across the country, has already taken a big step towards this goal.
“Decriminalization implies that smoking cannabis is not bad, which removes the stigma,” Cannabislibre’s Hector Aguilar, who runs a cannabis social club, told the crowd on 4/20. “This is affecting us now as a society, and this process is already happening. Thanks to the police for listening…It’s historic that in Oaxaca today we can smoke a joint and the police have a duty to protect us.”
Looking for a Mexican model, not the United States
But to fellow Pachecos, stoners, he said proponents aren’t now calling for versions of market liberalization like in Florida, where there are strict barriers to large-scale cultivation that effectively favor long-established white-owned companies. “It’s a model that still bans me and forces me to ask how many apples I can grow.”
Instead, the start of mass production is required to prevent a takeover of the trade by corporations. At 4:20 pm, two young men gave an idiosyncratic demonstration of how to use rice to make an organic fertilizer for growing grass. “They show people how to prepare the land and that it only takes one seed, with no chemicals,” noted one viewer.
Local growers also get rights
This huge southern state has some of the best conditions in the country for growing the plant, the president of the Association of Indigenous Cannabis Producers of Oaxaca said last week. “We need the authorities to listen to our calls for empowering indigenous peoples,” he told local media.
Also this month, 26 indigenous communities were granted the right to grow cannabis for medicinal purposes. This permit was legal in name but was granted by federal agencies without an operational framework. Now these Zapotec campesino cities have the firm right to grow within certain parameters.
What do we want? to grow plants
Still, many of the activists Leafly spoke to on April 20 remained suspicious of the state. They believe that cannabis shouldn’t be subject to stricter regulations than other common, endemic plants. They don’t want to be forced to apply for permits to grow limited amounts of Mota.
“We haven’t asked the authorities for regulation, we simply respect our human rights,” Magic Jane said after cutting the ceremonial cake. “The next step is to secure free cultivation rights.”
Marijuana in Mexico: New Laws, New Rules
Matthew Busby
Mattha Busby is a freelance writer based in Mexico. His work has appeared in the Guardian, The Observer, Vice, GQ and other publications.
Check out Mattha Busby’s articles
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