An In-Depth Look At Mexico’s Legal Marijuana



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Contributor: ERIC BLOOM

For decades and decades, the world’s relationship with cannabis has been a complicated one, to say the very least. During those years, a healthy amount of the globe’s population was completely in favor of marijuana, and used it on fairly regular basis, but there were just as many folks (if not more) that vehemently opposed any and all things related to cannabis.

The latter was merely misguided and wrongfully persuaded into that unjustified line of anti-cannabis thinking by the federal government, and how they refused to budge from their stubborn stance opposing cannabis, and its proposed legalization. These ruling powers even went so far as to categorize marijuana as a Schedule I substance.

A Look At Mexico’s Unique Relationship With Marijuana Legalization

For those of you who may be unaware, that sort of distinction was damn near a criminal act.

Not only did it officially decree cannabis as a lethal, non-medicinal drug – which it is NOT – but they blatantly prohibited labs across the country from conducting tests on marijuana in any way, shape, or form. Now, sure, there were some tests and studies done on cannabis during those prohibition years, but they were basically only government-ran, in government facilities, with government employees, looking at government ganja.

This “government ganja” was some of the lamest bud on the planet. They were nowhere near an accurate representation of this beloved plant, nor did it even come close to encapsulating the intricate nature of the various strains and hybrids that are now available at every single dispensary across the nation.

SEE ALSO: Marijuana Icon, Tommy Chong Breaks Down His Personal Relationship With Cannabis

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It was an era in which our anti-cannabis government prevented any sort of THC-related progress from happening. Which is abundantly sad in and of itself. But what’s even worse, is other countries often would look to the United States of America, as an example of how to govern around such issues. And, much like they would in a litany of other ways, these influenced nations would also take similarly staunch stances against marijuana, preventing their citizens from reaping the plethora of pleasing rewards that cannabis is known for.


Only in the last ten years have we seen the tides change dramatically in the favor of cannabis in America, and the same can be seen in neighboring nations, as well. We all know that Canada has taken massive steps forward, as far as legalized cannabis is concerned. But few actually know that Mexico is starting to lift its lengthy ban on marijuana, as well, and the people couldn’t be more excited about it.

This, as you may already assume, was a bit more of an uphill battle for the Mexican government to climb. This country hasn’t exactly had a squeaky clean record, as far as drug crimes are concerned. In fact, many consider Mexico as one of the most drug-heavy nations in the world. While those numbers don’t exactly add up, the fact remains that drugs, and the trafficking of them, is a major, major issue for Mexico.

Taking that into consideration, Mexico wasn’t exactly ready to pivot completely in favor of full-blown legalization right off the bat. Nor should they. No state in America has taken such a drastic measure, either. It would just be political and financially irresponsible of them to do such a thing. Endeavors like this must be thoroughly researched and analyzed. They need to know just how such a political change will affect the communities that make up their territory.

SEE ALSO: Medical Marijuana Cards On The Rise In Illinois, Despite Recent Recreational Legalization

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Which is why, like every other American state, Mexico has decided to open the door of possible recreational legalization, with the implementation of medicinal marijuana first. With this sort of governmental restriction of marijuana, it will allow them to calmly look at how their citizens are taking to the new change.

Also, they will be able to more accurately gauge how much marijuana-related revenue they would be able to take in. In short, if things go well with medicinal marijuana being legalized, it’ll only be a year of two, before recreational decriminalization starts to get brought up in political discussions.


One of the largest fears surrounding such a move in Mexico, however, comes back to worries of an increase in drug-related crime. Which is a completely fair thing to consider. Even in American states, where cannabis is fully legal, both medicinally and recreationally, there are a number of black market operations and illegal dispensaries. Not only do these spike up the crime rate in those particular regions, but they also put people’s lives at risk through the selling of tainted, potentially lethal goods.

But, if no move is ever made, marijuana will continue to remain illegal in the eyes of the government, and any sort of sale, possession, or partaking in, would only increase the crime rate, too. So, it’s essentially like choosing between the lesser of two evils, with the choice of med-only being the wisest decision they could make, if they even stand a chance of legalizing it across the board in the future.

A little more than a few years ago, Mexican President, Enrique Peña was asked to elaborate on his new feelings towards medicinal marijuana. Years earlier, Peña was 100% opposed to the idea of legalizing cannabis in any regard.

SEE ALSO: Illinois’ Booming Cannabis Industry Encounters Unforeseen Problems

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However, as time dredged on, and the world has evolved to a state of embracing the helpful, therapeutic benefits of cannabis, Peña realized it was time to reconsider his stubborn anti-marijuana stance. Which, to be fair, he only had because he thought it would immediately cause a spike in crime. And, as a president of, well, anywhere, that’s the last thing you want to happen.

In a public statement surrounding the topic of medicinal marijuana being legalized in Mexico, Peña said, “So far, the solutions [to control drugs and crime] implemented by the international community have been frankly insufficient. We must move beyond prohibition to effective prevention.”

He’s absolutely right.

This pointless war on drugs has gone on for far too long, and way too many innocent lives have been negatively affected by it. Also, not for nothing, the government was never even close to winning this fictional battle that they started, so it was just a matter of time before they caved in, realized their side was losing, and ultimately, “right” the “wrongs” that they’ve created with this senseless “war” through legalization.

Luckily, President Peña hasn’t met much opposition to his newly-switched pro-cannabis stance.

An official statement from Mexico’s Ministry of Health, echoes just such a showing of support. In which, they said they will be in charge of regulations, in regards to, “…public policies regulating the medicinal use of pharmacological derivatives of cannabis sativa, indica, and Americana or marijuana, including tetrahydrocannabinol, its isomers and stereochemical variants, as well as how to regulate the research and national production of them.”

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After Peña’s historic political move, the Lower House of Parliament in Mexico also released a statement of their own, which was fully in favor of the move.

They said, “The ruling eliminates the prohibition and criminalization of acts related to the medicinal use of marijuana and its scientific research, and those relating to the production and distribution of the plant for these purposes.”

It is genuinely heartwarming to see such an outpouring of positive reactions to such a move. Even though it took quite some time to even get considered, the fact that medicinal marijuana is currently legal in Mexico is a huge step towards progress.



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