The Supreme Court of Mexico Legalizes the Use of Recreational Cannabis
On October 31st, 2018, the Supreme Court of Mexico made history by legalizing the recreational use of cannabis. The Supreme Court voted to reverse the permanent ban on the use of recreational marijuana. In June of 2017, Medical cannabis became legal in Mexico. The legalization of recreational cannabis in Mexico means that the United States will be the only country in North America not to legalize recreational marijuana nationwide.
The Mexicans have a distinct process of declaring an unconstitutional law which is somewhat different from other countries. The Mexicans need five consecutive rulings on the same issue before establishing an outline for overturning a law. The decision of the court to legalize the adult use of marijuana in Mexico was due to two rulings on behalf of separate defendants, both applications for “Amparo,” or constitutional protection, to either grow or smoke recreational marijuana. According to both cases, the Supreme Court discovered that the current ban on the use of recreational cannabis is unconstitutional.
The Mexicans have been working to change the cannabis legislature; The possession of small amounts of cannabis and several other drugs were decriminalized in 2009. Since the Supreme Court has voted in favor of cannabis legalization, the Mexican Congress will have to change the current bill concerning cannabis so that the law would seize from being unconstitutional.
There are a lot of implications that come with legalizing recreational cannabis across Mexico. When the drug becomes officially legal, medical patients will have more variety. Furthermore, a scientist studying drug policy out of Mexico’s Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (Center of Investigation and Economic Studies), Froylán Encisco, said that the rulings make it easier for adults to use both recreational and medicinal marijuana. He also said that the court has discovered that people use pot for rituals, for recreational use, for medical use, at work, and for clinical studies. Any adult who uses marijuana for any substantial will not be penalized.
Moreover, the Supreme Court ruling to legalize both medical and recreational marijuana for adult use could have noteworthy effects for people who are currently being detained for the possession of low-level cannabis.
According to Encisco, the government of Mexico people who carry violent criminal activities is not put in prison, but people who are caught on street corners or outside with small quantities of marijuana are locked up; thus these decisions will favor many cannabis consumers.
Additionally, proponents of legalization are saying that removing the ban on cannabis could stop the business power of the drug cartels in Mexico. According to Laura Carlsen, Director of the Americas Program for the Center for International Policy in Mexico City, the war on drugs in Mexico has resulted to many deaths; research shows that about 200,000 people have been killed in the last ten years due to drugs. Decade alone. She also said that if people can buy marijuana in legal and regulated places, it makes the black market very weak. Drug cartels use the income from Marijuana sales to purchase weapons, and if marijuana is legalized, the drug cartels won’t have money to buy guns.
