Did Mexico’s Supreme Court legalize marijuana?

When Mexico’s Supreme Court makes a ruling, that doesn’t resolve the issues. The next step is for the Supreme Court to notify Mexico’s Congress of their decision and Congress will have 90-days to write legislation supporting the court’s ruling.

The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) granted two more appeals on the use of marijuana, which established a jurisprudence by declaring that the absolute prohibition for the recreational use of marijuana is unconstitutional. That is, any citizen may request a permit from the federal government to cultivate and use marijuana for personal recreational purposes.

By four votes in favor and one against, two amparos, a written statement to protect constitutional rights, that were submitted by ministers Norma Lucia Piña Hernández and Arturo Zaldívar were endorsed. The amparos were approved in which the court reiterated, for the fifth time, the unconstitutionality of the absolute prohibition to the recreational use of marijuana, which allowed integrating jurisprudence.

With the above ruling, any person may consume marijuana for recreational purposes, provided they have the authorization of the Federal Commission for Protection against Health Risks (Cofepris), and consumers may not sell or distribute to third parties. The amparo, however, does not allow importing the drug. The consumption of the drug must be grown by the user and limited to personal use, not for sale or distribution. So don’t look for a dispensary opening in your neighborhood any time soon.

However, the president-elect of Mexico and his administration has suggested they are prepared to move towards complete legalization as a way to reduce violence in the country.

The decision of the Court was celebrated by the organization United Mexico Against Delinquency, which urged Mexico’s Congress to modify the corresponding regulations to repeal the current prohibitionist model.

The next step is for the Supreme Court to notify the Chamber of Deputies in Mexico’s Congress of their ruling in order to initiate the reform process and ensure respect for the rights of users, without the need for them to go to court to request an injunction; the legislators have 90 days to make the changes as soon as the highest court notifies them of this jurisprudence.

The head of the Ministry of Health, José Narro, said that on Monday the person in charge of the Cofepris, Julio Sánchez y Tépoz, will present the guidelines on the sanitary control of cannabis and its derivatives, to cultivate, market, sell in pharmacies, consume, export and import marijuana for medicinal and research purposes.

Mexico’s President-elect, López Obrador, who will take office on December 1, said he plans to announce security plans next week that will also include their plan on drugs.

“I will present the security plan next week, on Thursday of next week and there we will deliver a document about our entire strategy to guarantee peace and tranquility, yes we are going to talk about drug policy”, he said.

In October, Mexico’s incoming foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, said the country could “absolutely” follow Canada in legalizing marijuana as a way to reduce violence generated by a war on drugs that “doesn’t work.”