Advocates for the legalization of marijuana in Mexico have expressed their disappointment after the Senate failed to come to a consensus on proposed legislation to regulate the industry.
Mexico’s Supreme Court had set a deadline of the end of October for lawmakers to approve legislation, following various rulings over the past three years deeming the prohibition of personal use of marijuana unconstitutional.
Disagreements among senators from the majority Morena Party were cited as the main reason why three Senate commissions – Justice, Health and Legislative Studies – decided to suspend discussion of a bill that would legalize the cultivation, production, distribution and use of cannabis in Mexico. Successful passage of the bill would have made Mexico only the third country in the world to legalize cannabis nationally, following Canada and Uruguay.
According to Morena Senator Julio Menchaca, president of the Justice Commission, senators have concerns over multiple issues regarding the “many interests” involved in the cannabis production and distribution chain, as well as reservations over the effects legalization might have on the health of the nation’s citizens.
Recognizing the “complexity of the matter,” the Supreme Court granted the Senate another six months to come up with a new framework. They set a new deadline of April 30, 2020.
The draft legislation that senators failed to agree on would have permitted all adults age 18 and older to use, possess and purchase cannabis from licensed retailers, possess up to 30 grams, and cultivate up to six plants for their personal use.
According to Marijuana Moment, a website dedicated to the politics, business and culture of cannabis, the draft legislation “covers social equity by requiring 20 percent of licensees to be from economically disadvantaged people, and it outlines provisions providing for testing and quality control.”
The legislation also proposes rules limiting foreign ownership of distribution channels, and calls for low-income individuals, small farmers and indigenous peoples to have licensing priority.
Similar to Canada, a central agency, to be known as the Cannabis Institute, would be responsible for overseeing Mexico’s marijuana industry.
Various activist organizations, including México Unido Contra la Delincuencia, La Discapacidad No Une and #RegulaciónporlaPaz, denounced the delay, noting that it only benefits organized crime syndicates that control local drug markets. “What is the point of persecuting small-time dealers (and users) with amounts of marijuana that will be legal in six months? It’s a waste of time and resources,” one blogger wrote.