Mexico: the deadline for legalizing cannabis approaches

At the end of 2018, the Supreme Court of Mexico ruled that the prohibition of cannabis consumption by adults was unconstitutional. The Court had then set a one-year deadline to legalize cannabis in the country.

Mexico missed this first deadline, as the legalization bill failed to garner a consensus, and then the second in April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the December 15 deadline approaches, lawmakers have just two months to pass a cannabis bill, as many unknowns remain regarding the future regulation of cannabis in Mexico.

Last August, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador assured that the legalization was in progress, declaring that 'there will be a legal reform» when lawmakers reconvene in the fall.

A first cannabis reform project had been criticized for favoring large companies and imposed significant costs on businesses, particularly concerning «seed-to-sale» tracking, which would severely limit market access for small producers.

Representatives of the Canadian and American cannabis industries have also been accused to interfere with legalization efforts.

«It's essentially about reproducing a prohibition for the poor, but creating a legal market for large corporations,» said Alejandro Madrazo, a researcher at Center for Economic Research and Teaching.

Mexico, with a population of approximately 130 million, is on track to become the world's largest legal cannabis market.

«The impact would be quite significant,» said Lisa Pittman, a cannabis lawyer. «The other countries that have already legalized cannabis – Canada and Uruguay – have much smaller populations than Mexico, and Mexico already has a long history of cannabis use and shipping cannabis across our borders,» said Lisa Pittman.

If the first bill passes into Mexican law, personal possession would be capped at 28 grams, and possession of up to 200 grams would be decriminalized. Additionally, individuals would be able to grow up to 20 registered plants.

The Senate should first vote on the bill before the end of October. If the bill passes the Senate, it is not yet clear whether it will be presented to the various committees or if it will go directly to the House of Deputies given the tight deadlines.