Mexico City Proposal to Regularize the Sale of Marijuana Is a Step Forward Eduardo Guerrero Gutierrez - Reforma
go to original February 16, 2014

Uruguay, Colorado, Washington, France ... More and more people in more countries acknowledge a painful truth: in fighting addictions, the remedy has generally been worse than the disease. In the case of marijuana, criminalization has been a huge and extremely costly error. In keeping with this trend, yesterday a reform initiative appeared in the ALDF [Legislative Assembly of the Federal District (Mexico City)] that seeks to reduce risks and damages currently generated by Mexico City's marijuana market. This initiative is the boldest step that has been proposed so far in Mexico in order to shift away from a repressive approach to a public health program for combating addiction.

The ALDF has no authority to legalize either the possession or sale of marijuana, since such behaviors are classified as federal crimes. However, Article 21 of the Constitution enshrines a legal concept known as the "principle of opportunity," which implies that the federal states have every right to set the criteria that their public ministries [investigative police and prosecutors] will have to follow in prioritizing the prosecution of crimes (i.e., to define what is prosecuted as a priority, and what is not prosecuted in practice). Based on this principle, the initiative establishes that no person will be detained - nor will preliminary investigation be initiated - for the trade, supply or possession of marijuana, provided that a number of conditions are satisfied for the "reduction of risks and threats." The outstanding ones are; namely, that:

• Behaviors are not carried out in combination with other drugs (including alcohol and tobacco);
• Behaviors are carried out in locations specifically identified as "spaces for secure provisioning [supply]"; and that
• Users be provided with information about the risks associated with marijuana use.

Read the rest at Mexico Voices

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