Legalization of Cannabis Use in Mexico: Entering the Final Stretch
Context
The Mexican Congress has been engaged for two years in formulating its response to a ruling of the Mexican Supreme Court in late 2018 to allow for personal use of cannabis by individual Mexican citizens. Congress chose early on to surpass the technical requirement to amend the General Law on Health and some other supporting regulations and has rather pursued a more ambitious goal to put in place a comprehensive legal framework that would create a new national commercial sector, consistent with the initial intent of the Administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), and most specifically the Secretary of Government (Secretaria de Gobernación), former Senator and Supreme Court judge, Olga Sánchez Cordero. As was expected for such a complex objective, the legislative path has been long.
To that end, and after extensive study by several commissions jointly, the Senate finally passed its version of the new Federal Law for the Regulation of Cannabis accompanied by necessary amendments to other existing legislation on November 19, 2020, and referred it to the Cámara de Diputados (“the House”) for consideration on November 25. After three previous extensions, the Supreme Court had set December 15, 2020, as the deadline for passage of the legislation. Pleading general delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to have the necessary time to review the Senate-approved legislation in committee, the House requested a fourth extension of this deadline on December 9, to which the Supreme Court agreed on December 10, 2020. Congress now has until April 30, 2021, the last sitting day of the next congressional session to pass legislation legalizing and regulating the adult recreational use of cannabis.
The next congressional session begins on February 1, 2021, and the members of the House will have their collective eye on the clock. We find it difficult to imagine that the Supreme Court would agree to yet another extension barring some remarkable circumstances. Such a request could appear disrespectful to the judicial branch. But the language used by the president of the Cámara de Diputados in seeking the latest extension left the impression that we might expect amendments to the Senate-approved draft bill. Should the House amend the cannabis legalization bill, the legislative procedure of the Mexican Congress will require that the bill be returned to the Senate for consideration and approval, or not, of the amended bill. If the latter chamber does not agree, the bill can be sent back to the House yet again, after which the House will have the last word. Since all this potential legislative work must be completed before the close of the session on April 30, the implication is that the House commissions should take on review of the cannabis legalization law as early as possible in February.
Full Report: Cannabis in Mexico – December 2020
Open in New Page Download File