By Bernardo Moreno
To explain this controversial issue, I interviewed a specialist, José Domingo Schievenini, National Autonomous University of Mexico history PhD and member of the National System of Researchers (SNI). His research areas focus on drug history and public policy. He has published in scientific journals such as the “Social History of Alcohol and Drugs Journal,” published by The University of Chicago Press, and in books such as “Cannabis: Global Histories,” published by The MIT Press. He is currently a professor-researcher at the University of Querétaro. (Twitter:@DomSvn)
BM: What is the current legal status of marijuana in Mexico?
JDS: The present status of cannabis in Mexico is complex, dynamic, and uncertain. It is complex because it requires a very technical legal analysis to understand it, and there are political pressures and multiple economic interests involved. It is dynamic because, as I indicated in the previous answer, since 2015, cracks have opened in the prohibition status, and advances have been made which were unthinkable a decade ago. What progress? On one hand, the real possibility of a state regulation similar to that of Canada, Uruguay, and several US states has been enabled, and on the other, a permit for medicinal use now exists, which federal laws have regulated since January 2020, requiring a medical prescription to acquire a catalog (still very limited) of medications approved by the Federal Commission for Health Risk Prevention (COFEPRIS). But the current status of cannabis is also uncertain— specifically recreational use (which in the legislative process has been called “personal and adult use”). It is uncertain because in 2019, the Supreme Court—returning to the criteria of 2015 on the SMART case—resolved that the Mexican State cannot punish the cannabis user. This punishment directly violates the right to free development of the personality, a fundamental right contemplated by international treaties. So, to protect that right, the Supreme Court ordered the Legislative Branch to erase the laws that punish cannabis consumers and, even more important, ordered the drafting of a law to regulate its production, trade, and consumption. This legislation would be similar to that already in force in Uruguay, Canada, and some US states. After the court order, 17 bills were presented in the Senate, and based on them and thousands of hours of advice and dialogue with specialists, the Federal Regulation for the Regulation of Cannabis was prepared with more than 400 articles. In 2021, only one step was missing: that this regulation prepared by the senators be also approved by the deputies.
BM: And what happened to the deputies?
JDS: They made modifications to the Federal Regulation for the Regulation of Cannabis. They did it without scientific analysis, from one day to the next, spoiling the spirit of the bills and the thousands of hours of technical work that took place in the Senate to prepare the project. So, when the bill went back to the senators, they no longer wanted to pass it. They considered that the modifications spoiled everything. Why did the deputies do that to the project? To respond, one would have to delve into political shenanigans and economic interests. Anyway, the law that would regulate cannabis in Mexico is stuck and will remain frozen, at least until the next six-year term. But faced with this situation, the Supreme Court, surprised by what happened in the Chamber of Deputies, issued a «General Declaration of Unconstitutionality» so that, in the absence of a general law, any citizen can request permission from COFEPRIS to cultivate and consume cannabis and for the effective protection of the right to the free personality development. There are already hundreds who have requested permits and can grow up to four plants in their homes. Although this is progress, we are still far from an efficient public policy that benefits everyone.
BM: What consequences would the national regulation of cannabis have?JDS: First, Mexican citizens could consume quality cannabis products regulated by health, and not marijuana of dubious origin with pesticides and other chemicals, full of fungus due to being poorly dried and pressed. They would know what variety of cannabinoids are being consumed according to individual needs. Second, the police and the penal system could be dedicated to other tasks, such as prosecuting and punishing the long list of crimes that are truly affecting Mexican society. Third, the branch of organized crime that profits from this plant would be financially diminished, and those economic benefits would translate into taxes collected by the government. Fourth, the Mexican State could redirect its efforts to combat real drug problems, such as the crystal methamphetamine consumption epidemic that has tripled in recent years, or prevent the wave of fentanyl consumption that is just beginning to grow in Mexico, but which in three or four years could be an epidemic as lethal as it has been in the US in the last decade.
