Mexico’s Supreme Court has ruled in a 4-1 decision that the prohibition of marijuana is unconstitutional. The ruling declares that individuals should have the right to grow and distribute marijuana for their personal use.
Mexico has increasingly considered reforming their marijuana policies in recent months following the well known case of 8 year old, Graciela Elizalde, whose parents launched a successful social media campaign to pressure the Mexican government to approve a CBD treatment for their daughter. This treatment however, was approved only for Graciela, leaving many other patients in the dark for medication.
This ruling comes in a country that has undoubtedly played a significant role in the drug war. It has been reported that Mexican drug cartels and the forces fighting them have resulted in the deaths of more than 83,000 people between 2007 and 2014.
While this Supreme Court decision is definitely a step in the right direction, what happens next remains to be seen. The ruling does not strike down current drug laws but it could pave the way for lawmakers to make more substantive policy changes in the future.
“ohhh shit.”
Wow.
Definitely the right call,
and actually going to benefit Mexico A TON.
To the cartels,
‘STFU, or I shall taunt you a second time-ah.’
Interesting… (Unless I am mistaken):
It seems the winds of change are beginning to gust…
-Canada is ~likely to initiate some pro-legalization measures sometime in the ~near-ish future
-Mexico is lightening up
-America has a few states (AND farking DC)
that have legalized
The people are no longer afraid to voice
nor right about their perceptions on cannabis.
We are no longer relegated to the shadows,
such that only the sloppy and OBVIOUS partakers are known to be pro-legalization.
How many presidents, top-tier business leaders, inventors, scientists, doctors, and even an Olympic Medalist – have made it clear they were for it, and have BLOWN AWAY the steretypes?!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Phelps
—
People,
CONSTRUCTIVELY shake things up.
Be on your best behavior,
try to present your partaking in the proper way…
Show that it is a tool, and not a crutch.
That we master it, and it is not a hindrance to us.
Be careful with your words.
The tide is turning.
Make your voices count.
Thank you.
Viva Mexico! Viva la marijuana!
I barely caught up with the story of Graciela a month or two ago. Video of a young child’s seizures ending seconds after consuming whole plant cannabis extracts has been the most effective tool for legalization worldwide.
I had been following the recommendations and studies by the Organization of American States since the Summit if the Americas in 2012 when the DEA lead the secret service to prostitutes in cartagena that eventually ended up with DEA director Michelle Leonhart’s resignation; And now we have a DEA director that calls medicinal marijuana “a joke.” There is nothing funny about denying safe efficient medicine to a child suffering from seizures. There really isnt anyplace left for these scumbag prohibitionists to hide… (Except perhaps here in Texas or in Ohio during a non-presidential election season…)
I travel to Mexico frequently and I know the fear people live with worrying about the narcos, the trafficking, the deported gangsters that terrorize neighborhoods whose criminal records the US doesnt report to the Mexican authorities… But years of corruption culminating into the disappearance of 40 students in the narco-controlled state of Guerrero and events from Colorado and Washington legalizing to videos of marijuana treating seizures in children, have quickly emboldened Mexicans to challenge the status quo. The media can be threatened but word of mouth is oral tradition and Mexicans are fed up with the corruption that hangs from their northern neighbor like a double edged sword; the US DOJ arms both the Mexican military and the warring cartels while the US buys the prohibited drugs, which until recently, was mostly marijuana. Its immoral. Its sickening. It has to stop. Finally, the highest court in Mexico agrees.
Another factor allowing this judgement to occur is that the cartels have already been focusing on methamphetamines and heroin for years ever since California started allowing medicinal 20 years ago. Today, much of the weed Americans consume no longer comes from Mexico in moldy, hastily transported bricks covered in perfumes and pesticides; it comes from Colorado to states that still prohibit because Colorado’s weed is safer, of better quality, supports legalization and is more likely free from harmful chemicals.
The Supreme Court of Mexico has sent Washington a clear message to end prohibition, and Bernie Sanders is about to ride the surging tide of voters that will respond with momentum into next year.
It is time we recognize as Americans just how many innocent people the Controlled Substances Act has killed and why the prohibition of marijuana can never be allowed to happen again.
I just had a vision of a struggling farmer in Mexico who grew hemp to feed his cattle and saved the family farm. I see the sustainability of the Mexican milpa and the culture of where so many varieties of food from corn, turkey and tomatoes originate continue to grow free of pesticides, petro-fertilizers clean and ready to harvest because small farmers will once again be able to sustain themselves by diversifying into cannabis, instead of falling dependant to the cycle of herbicides and fertilizers or the growing monoculture of genetically engineered industry from Wal-Mart and processed foods from McDonalds that have invaded Mexico in recent years and threatened public health and the sustainable human coexistence with the lands from which so many staple foods originate. Yes, the legislation has to follow, but the seeds have been planted and soon even the sick, the poor and wrongfully imprisoned will share in the harvest of our endeavour to free the most agriculturally and medicinally useful plant in human history in some of the most agriculturally productive lands on earth.
Viva la marijuana!
Nice, a court not beholden to special interests it would seem. And of course this ruling should not nullify “drug laws”, but marijuana should be removed from the “drug laws” like pronto!
‘The ruling declared that individuals should have the right to grow and distribute marijuana for their personal use.’
‘The ruling does not strike down current drug laws…’
How can both of these be true statements?
[Paul Armentano replies: The ruling applied to the rights of the individual plaintiffs in the case; it did not strike down the drug laws per se.]
This article from Time is worth the read:
http://time.com/4100747/mexicos-marijuana-ruling-shakes-up-drug-policy/
Especially the part at the end about shifting UN drug policy.
Mota Si! Guerra No!
Our own Constitution also permits home grows for similar reasons as Mexico’s. A victimless crime, like a personal home grow being called a harm to society, is actually unconstitutional because there are no witnesses to any wrong doing. The 6th Amendment says: “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right … to be confronted with the witnesses against him”. That Amendment also says: “…to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor” which even with the mountain of evidence that NORML and others are compiling is being violated. It’s not my imagination that I have rights, those are the words of our Constitution.
America should be paving the way to ending the draconian idiotic prohibition of marijuana considering we call ourselves “The Land of the Free”. Unfortunately, we have people in powerful positions here in our country that do no share that vision for our country. I wish they would all relocate somewhere their views are shared with the people they supposedly represent; perhaps Japan… I’m talking about people like Chris Christie and Mike Huckabee to name a couple of the nitwits I have in mind…
So wait a minute…Does this mean if I smoke weed, I WON’T jump out a 10th story window? Wow, who knew?
But Todd, these folks have their own beliefs about how following the constitution places uncomfortable restrictions on government officials and they just don’t like it! “What do you mean I supposed to help people vote? No I’m not! I’m supposed waste money inventing excuses to block them from voting. My state even has a rich culture of doing just this to blacks, so you can say its a matter of pride.” Generations with no clue that they are working as enemies of the Constitution… Still at it to this very day!
@DonM – you should be referring to Barack Obama as well. When he took office, the Democrats had over 60 seats in the Senate and a majority in the House of Representatives. They could have done anything they wanted to with this issue or immigration. But they did not. They want these things to remain issues so people like you beg them to change the law, and then u continue to vote for them (foolishly) indefinitely while they keep telling you, “next time”. The only thing that will make marijuana legal is group’s like NORML who help to organize ballot initiatives; once enough states legalize it the federal government will have to remove it from the CSA as a Schedule I.
If the title read New Mexico it might mean something.
@Chopotle
Yeah, because the drug war in the US isnt in any way related to Mexico at ALL. Crawl outta that rock your under, theres all kinds of truth and sunlight out here.
John P., you’re right. This “next time” bullshit is all we get. Bernie Sanders has already proposed the correct legal remedy and here comes Hillary with option: “I will do nothing to challenge this Unconstitutional power grab.” This is the most blatant example of how Hillary really does not respect our rights as Americans. She is a cracker. A feminist cracker. How does this even work? She is liberal when it comes to women, but “punishment-comes-first-conservative” when it come to marijuana. Her personal policy on these subjects is dissociative. She’ll work tirelessly for some Americans while she’ll stick a knife in someone else’s back over literally nothing.
how can we the people get a vote nation wide on a ballot,to decriminalize this?is there no way this can be done,i thought this counrty was supposed to be goverened by the people,that the congress and law makers work for us ,the people,so if this issue has swung in the ddirection of more folks wanting it than not,just like proabition back in the 20s,then why cant we get something like this going,?????
Pretty sure I read yesterday that the ruling only applies to the 4 people involved in the case. Look it up on Leafly, I believe.
[Paul Armentano responds: The 4-1 decision only applies to the four individual plaintiffs in the case, and does not amend Mexico’s existing anti-marijuana laws.]
Is marijuana a defined term in Mexico like in the US? Do they consider it to be a drug, a plant, or a plant derivative? Do they spell it “marihuana”? Do they include “other substances” in their schedules? Is Mexican marijuana identical or similar to US marijuana?
Unfortunately governments are their own gang with their own agendas to fulfill that have nothing to do with our best interest or well being, wake up folks