Mexico to legalize the sale of cannabis products in 2018

Mexico announced legalize the sale of cannabis-based products (food, beverages, medicines and cosmetics) by early 2018.

Arturo Tornel, spokesman for health regulator Cofepris, said the agency officially plans to publish regulations on cannabis products in the next few days, allowing these products to enter the Mexican market a month later.

He added that Cofepris provides for distributors and retailers to import finished products, but will also be able to produce them in Brazil from cannabis grown abroad.

Although the definition of a cannabis-based product is not yet very clear, the future regulation of these products does not provide for the sale of «pure» cannabis, in the form of herb or resin.

In June, the Mexico legalized cannabis use for medical and scientific purposes, but maintained the ban on the cultivation and recreational use of cannabis. The legalization of medical cannabis also required the Ministry of Health to develop a research program to study its impact before considering opening up regulation further.

The legalization of cannabis is a regular topic of debate in Mexico. Cannabis is a major source of income for the cartels, which generate a great deal of violence and continue to send contraband cannabis to the United States, despite the gradual opening up of legal cannabis.

L’Argentina, the Chile, Colombia, the Peru and Puerto Rico have also legalized medical cannabis, and in 2013 Uruguay became the first country to legalize both medical and recreational cannabis.

Recreational cannabis is still illegal in Mexico. In 2015, the country's Supreme Court authorized 4 people to grow cannabis for personal consumption, paving the way for the legalization of cannabis.