After Legalizing Medical Marijuana, Is Recreational Cannabis Coming Next for Mexico? Reginald Reefer - Cannabis.net
go to original August 2, 2017

Mexico legalizes medical cannabis, is recreational next? Maybe not so fast... (Cannabis.Net)

Somewhere in mid-June, the Mexican federal government passed a law that legalizes medical cannabis in Mexico. They have currently 180 days to figure out what that means, but for the most part cannabis will be legal for medical consumption within the next six months in Mexico.

Additionally, the psychoactive part of cannabis, THC, is now classified as “Therapeutic” under Mexican Law. While the new law isn’t creating the framework for marijuana dispensaries, it is a massive move in a country that has been very conservative when it comes to drug use.

The biggest issue of the conservatives is that they equate cannabis consumption with drug violence. This is also due to ‘yellow journalism’ that frequently cites “marijuanos” as the worst of the worst, linking them to crime and so forth.

Despite the fact that 66% of the country was not in favor of legalization, the Senate passed the measure 347-7 in April and the document was signed by Enrique Peña Nieto, the current president of Mexico on June 21st.

Essentially, the entire cannabis marketplace will now be in the hands of the Ministry of Health to draft and implement public regulations on the plant. Additionally, the Ministry is tasked with additional research into the plant prior to expanding the boundaries of the policies.

An obvious opposition to legalization was the Catholic Church which said in a statement; “A drug is a drug even if it’s sold as a soft medicinal balm. Bad Mexican copycats emulate the neighbor to put on the table of ‘sane democracy’ a bleak, absurd and counterproductive debate… Recreational marijuana is a placebo to ease the pain of the social destruction in which we irremediably wallow.”

Read the rest at Cannabis.net

Related: Couples Are Serving Marijuana Instead of Booze at 'Weed Weddings' (AskMen)

Related: Marijuana Legalization Law Would Free People Behind Bars for Weed Offenses (Newsweek)

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