The Mexican marijuana legalization update

A senior Mexican official announced that they would revisit the issue of legalization at the next meeting.

This is welcome news for an industry that virtually stalled after the Supreme Court ruled the cannabis ban unconstitutional.

However, Mexico is the country with the largest adult population of legal cannabis to date – without a regulated market, the whole country is in legal limbo.

There were many factors that caused this situation, from lawmakers simply hesitating to attorneys winning Supreme Court cases, resulting in a constitutional maneuver.

Mexican legalization works like a telenovela and is certainly one of the stranger ways you might want to legalize it.

In this article we are going to talk a little bit about what happened, what the Mexican official actually said about the next meeting and the future of cannabis in Mexico.

How did we get here?

Unlike many other places around the world that have legalized cannabis, Mexico went a different route. There is a clause in the Mexican Constitution that can essentially effect constitutional changes if the Supreme Court rules five times for something specific.

Lawyers then took cannabis-related matters to the Supreme Court and won five times, arguing that the cannabis ban violated their “right to express their personality” – a clause protected by the Mexican Constitution.

The Supreme Court agreed, and with that law the Senate and members of Congress had to specify the rules of legalization.

However, lawmakers stalled and failed to reach agreements that resulted in them missing the court-mandated due dates three times. In April 2021, the court ruled that the cannabis ban was unconstitutional.

This essentially made cannabis “legal” under the law, but law enforcement legislation was not updated – meaning that no one could be charged with cannabis crimes (for personal use) but could still be arrested.

If you know anything about the corruption within Mexico’s law enforcement agencies, you would understand why activists were anxious to make lawmakers ‘let something’ happen.

This did not happen, however, and now there seems to be an indication that they may come back to these issues at the next court session.

What was announced?

Senator Julio Ramón Menchaca Salazar – from the Morena party – tweeted that there would be discussions about formalizing the industry at the next session.

“The ideal is to complete the legislative process – without time pressure to have the opportunity to repeat that opinion, to adopt the good that was done in the Chamber of Deputies because some changes were right,” Menchaca, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said .

What he means here is that after the Senate passed a law, it sent it to the lower Chamber of Deputies, which also made changes.

When the bill was sent back, the Senate identified a number of issues that could hold lawmakers liable in its current form.

However, some of the items included in the House of Representatives’ revised bill made sense – this will be discussed by lawmakers at the next session.

This also gives lawyers a little more time to lobby and shape the law more according to what they consider “socially responsible”.

However, if I’ve seen anything following this story in the past few years is that Mexican lawmakers don’t really care about the average consumer. You have to understand that this is about INDUSTRY.

Mexico is a powerhouse in cannabis growing and can bring in a lot of foreign investment, but it also needs to balance the cultural elements of the rural communities. Hence, there are many areas that need to be addressed in order for the industry to work.

This is not what the law will look like in the end either – many lawmakers expect this law to be changed until it hits a solid balance, but some legislative processes need to be completed to activate the industry.

What’s happening now?

Right now, during the next legislative period, the legislature will tinker with the plan until it is ready for a vote. President Andres Manual Lopez Obrador has already said that he will sign the law as soon as it is ready – which means that there is no resistance from the highest offices.

Depending on how efficient the legislature is and how much pressure commercial cannabis brands are putting on them, we could see some form of legal cannabis program implemented by the end of the year.

This would mean that cannabis-related activities in Mexico will expand massively in 2022. If the elements of vertical integration are left intact, big brands could invest millions in the Mexican market – which enables cannabis use by the age of 18.

Mexico and the future of cannabis

While Mexico’s entry into the cannabis industry was an odd process, one cannot deny Mexico’s enormous potential as a major cannabis player.

First, Mexico already has a lot of cannabis arable land that would simply be repurposed for industry. Narcos will set up legal businesses for the export of hemp and cannabis products.

Second, Mexico has cheap labor to compete with China and India. Although it’s a bit more expensive – when you factor in shipping costs, the cost-benefit ratio of importing Mexican hemp and Mexican cannabis becomes more attractive.

The United States is likely to have some sort of cannabis legislation on the books for the next few years – especially since the Biden administration has no intention of legalizing cannabis.

Mexico has weather conditions that allow for longer seasons and perennial growth – meaning places like Puebla, Queretaro, and the surrounding area can harvest year round when places like Canada have to go indoors for their winter season.

When Mexico goes online, it will affect prices in the US, reduce costs, and boost the overall global cannabis trade.

This is one of the main reasons I keep watching this telenovela!

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