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MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The Mexican Supreme Court said on Wednesday that an absolute ban on the recreational use of marijuana is unconstitutional, leaving lawmakers the power to regulate their use.
FILE PHOTO: A participant prepares a marijuana joint at Global Marijuana March 2017 in support of the legalization of marijuana in Mexico City, Mexico, May 6, 2017. REUTERS / Henry Romero / File Photo
Announcing that it had ruled in favor of two lawsuits against the prohibition of recreational marijuana use, the Mexican Supreme Court has crossed the threshold necessary to create case law: five similar decisions in this area.
This sets a precedent that other Mexican courts will have to follow.
"It is a historic day," said Fernando Belaunzaran, a drug reform advocate and member of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), leftist opposition party.
The Supreme Court issued its first decision authorizing a group of people to grow marijuana for personal use in November 2015.
In a statement, the court said the ruling did not create an absolute right to use marijuana and that the use of certain substances could still be regulated.
"But the effects caused by marijuana do not justify an absolute ban on its consumption," he said.
The court ordered the federal health regulator COFEPRIS to allow people seeking the right to use marijuana to do so personally, "but without allowing them to market it or use other drugs or psychotropic drugs."
Congress should now act to regulate the use of marijuana in Mexico, Belaunzaran said.
Officials of the newly elected President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's government have said they could take steps to quickly legalize marijuana as part of a broader strategy to fight poverty and crime.
Proceedings of Anthony Esposito and Dave Graham; Edited by Cynthia Osterman
