Mexico's Supreme Court once again rules that personal possession of cannabis is legal

Setting limits on the amount of cannabis a person can have for personal use is unconstitutional, Mexico's Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. This is the latest in a series of rulings invalidating cannabis prohibition, which dates back to 2015 and comes after the court ruled last year that the prohibitions on personal consumption and home growing were unconstitutional.

However, this earlier decision did not call into question the 5-gram decriminalization in place since 2009, with those in possession of larger quantities facing a potential prison sentence of up to three years.

«The fact that the Public Prosecutor's Office is authorized to initiate criminal proceedings against a person who possesses more than 5 grams of cannabis for personal consumption amounts to punishing moral qualities [and] personal behavior, which has no constitutional basis,» wrote Supreme Court Justice Juan Luis González Alcántara.

«Criminal proceedings against the person who possesses cannabis in his private sphere, without affecting third parties or causing a criminal incident, are not justified,» he added.

No limit to possession, but...

This week's decision, however, left some bitter. The court ruled that only judges or prosecutors - not the police - can determine whether a quantity of cannabis is for personal use. This does not immediately reduce the risk of police arrest for cannabis users, who can spend up to 48 hours in a prosecutor's office awaiting a decision from a prosecutor or judge.

«We are sorry that the Supreme Court has approved this. It is contradictory that despite the fact that the bill has all the arguments to put an end to this crime, the Court chooses to perpetuate the criminalization of consumers. We will continue to work to protect the rights of consumers and citizens. We are certain that a safer and more peaceful Mexico needs the decriminalization of drugs,» he tweeted. Mexico United Against Crime, a legal NGO whose team defended a person arrested with 30 grams of cannabis, the case behind the decision.

Although the right to use cannabis was recognized by the Mexican Supreme Court, the organization also deplored the fact that the ruling failed to eliminate the crime of simple possession of cannabis.

https://twitter.com/MUCD/status/1524921160005189657

This ruling comes after the Oaxaca city council last month ordered police to stop arresting cannabis users, as long as they behave respectfully.

The long wait for legalization

Over the past six months, Mexican lawmakers have circulated several versions of the bill to legalize cannabis, but it has not been officially reintroduced in the Union Congress. Senate Majority Leader Ricardo Monreal of the ruling Morena party, declared in November that a bill on cannabis, This constitutionally-compliant, «high-level and progressive» project would soon be completed by the Senate Health and Judiciary Committees.

But shortly afterwards, he suggested that officials tasked with reworking an earlier version were unable to prepare it in time in a form that could be adopted. «Prohibition [of cannabis] is a hundred years old, so what if it takes a few more months,» he said when asked about the postponement.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador also floated the idea of a national referendum on cannabis legalization last year, but recently stated that there was no consensus on the legalization of drugs, including cannabis.

«Overcoming the formal obstacles of the past is not an easy task, but I have full confidence that in this legislature we can do it,» said Chamber of Deputies President Olga Sánchez Cordero in late March.