Three Senate commissions in Mexico came together on March 4 to pass legislation that will legalize all forms of cannabis (approves marijuana for recreational use). This move now brings the Latin American country one step closer to launching the biggest adult-use program by population in the world. The bill now heads to the full Senate. Once it gets approved there, it will head to the lower legislative chamber where it will become a law.
This measure might well be revised along the way, although the final approval is expected as the ruling party has the needed majorities. Mexican lawmakers now face an April 30 deadline to legalize cannabis, as explained in a Supreme Court decision. The bill, if passed, would legalize cannabis for industrial and medical hemp use in addition to recreational marijuana,
Any form of the adult-use market in Mexico would be significantly large compared to the existing programs in Uruguay and Canada. Mexico comes with almost 130 million, while the other countries have smaller populations. One business partner of Mexican-based Canncura, Alfredo Alvarez, said that this vote represented a ‘historic’ day for the cannabis world in Mexico.
But, he thinks the news is ‘bittersweet’ since the bill could have been much better looking at it from an industry point of view. For example, he commented:
“the bill overregulates licenses, limiting too much vertical and horizontal integration and maintains a punitive approach toward consumers.”
The commissions of health, justice, and legislative studies approved the legalization bill with 26 votes in favour. Seven members opposed the bill while eight were absent after the livestreamed, two-hour debate between legislators supporting the government versus others opposed to full legalization.
The Marijuana Bill
The bill seeks to legalize possession of up to 28 grams of marijuana and decriminalize possessions of up to 200 grams while authorizing home growing provided that certain limits are not surpassed. In that context, a cannabis agency would regulate commercial opportunities and issue licenses.
The bill also documents restrictions on foreign investments and vertical and horizontal integration intending to help the disadvantaged communities who would be among the best beneficiaries of this legalization.
Although it is expected that the bill will get approved with the adequate legislative majorities, recent concerns are that Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador
said some days ago that he only supports medical cannabis use only. The president’s opposition to recreational cannabis was raised during the debate by the lawmakers who opposed the bill.
The legislators who support the bill but representing the same political party as the president said that the legislative branch is an independent power. Another concern raised by the opposing lawmakers was that legalizing home production would seem enough to comply with the Supreme Court ruling. Hence, there might not be any need to create a commercial market.
