Mexico decriminalizes cannabis to combat drug trafficking

A breath of fresh air has been blowing through Mexico since this past Sunday, the 1st^er July, with the inauguration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the country’s first left-wing president. This event could very well change the Legal Status of Cannabis in Mexico since the new president plans to appoint Olga Sánchez Cordero, a former Supreme Court justice who supports the decriminalization of cannabis, as interior minister. Her upcoming appointment signals a radical change in policy.

New government, new policy

The future interior minister revealed, in an interview with AFP, the measures she planned to take regarding public safety once her appointment took effect. She will therefore submit a bill to the new president regarding the decriminalization of the cultivation and recreational use of cannabis.

This project is part of the overall effort to combat the drug trafficking that is plaguing the country. 2017 was the bloodiest year of the 21st^ème century in Mexico, marked by a significant expansion of the cartels and a rise in murders, kidnappings, and disappearances. This observation highlights the ineffectiveness of previous anti-drug trafficking policies—such as a military presence and tougher penalties—promoted by Enrique Peña Nieto and, before him, Felipe Calderón.

Olga Sánchez Cordero will opt for alternative methods that do not involve the systematic use of armed force and police services (which, moreover, are riddled with corruption). She herself states: «We are not going to fight violence with violence.» The goal of this new policy is to develop a legal system that would render drug trafficking obsolete and reduce the cartels’ influence over young people.

How will it work?

To implement its new policy, it will rely on «transitional justice,» a series of special legal mechanisms that can be invoked in cases of systematic human rights violations in a country.

It is also considering amnesty and reduced sentences for imprisoned cartel members who cooperate in locating the missing persons, as well as for young people who were forcibly recruited. Decriminalization will not be limited to cannabis but could also extend to other plants in order to allow their legal cultivation for the legal pharmaceutical market.