Mexico: Assembly votes to legalize cannabis

The Mexican Chamber of Deputies approved the cannabis legalization bill yesterday in a vote of 316 in favor, 129 against, and 23 abstentions. Amendments are still being debated before the bill is officially sent to the Senate.

The The Mexican Senate has already approved a first draft of the upcoming cannabis legislation at the end of last year, a policy change mandated by the The country's Supreme Court, after ruling in 2018 that the ban on the possession and cultivation of cannabis for personal use was unconstitutional.

According to the the law as we know it, adults aged 18 and older would be allowed to purchase and possess up to 28 grams of cannabis and grow up to six plants for personal use. Mexican lawmakers revised the version approved by the Senate, including the regulatory framework, rules governing the cannabis trade, and licensing policies, among other elements.

One of the most notable changes is that the revised bill would not create a new independent regulatory agency to oversee licensing and the implementation of the program, as had been approved by the Senate. Instead, it would grant this authority to an existing agency, the National Commission on Drug Abuse.

The legislation now also includes a new category of licenses for vertically integrated companies that can control all aspects of cultivation, manufacturing, and sales—although there is language intended to ensure that regulators «would prevent undue concentration that affects the market.» Such vertical integration was prohibited in earlier versions of the bill.

The legalization bill also gives priority to marginalized communities when it comes to obtaining licenses for cannabis production and distribution. However, some organizations fear that the criteria are not strict or specific enough to ensure this will actually happen and are calling for an amendment to reserve a specific percentage of licenses for these communities.

The Mexican Supreme Court has set the deadline for legalization at the end of April, a deadline that has already been postponed several times due to health conditions and regulatory roadblocks.