When is cannabis legal in Mexico? “Mañana” says the Chamber of Deputies

when will mexico legalize cannabis

https://www.borderreport.com/regions/mexico/mexico-puts-legalization-of-marijuana-on-hold/

https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/58-of-mexicans-oppose-legalization-of-marijuana-poll/

If you’re not familiar with the term “Mañana” in Mexico, you’d probably assume it means “tomorrow”. You’d be correct in the literal sense of the word, but in Mexico the term “Mañana” can be used to indefinitely delay something.

That’s because “Mañana” will always be “Mañana”. One of the best ways to understand the concept of “Mañana” is to look at the progress of legalizing cannabis in Mexico.

Originally – the Supreme Court defacto legalized cannabis ruling it as a “constitutional right”. This happened back in 2017. They Supreme court gave the Senate a deadline to come up with the rules. The Senate extended the ruling, and extended it some more.

“Mañana” was the perpetual approach to drafting out the rules for cannabis legalization until this year when the Mexican Senate finally approved the general framework for legalization. However, as with anything the government does – this was only victory in a long line of needed steps.

The problem with the Senate taking so long to finalize the bill was that they handed it to the Chamber of Deputies with 2-weeks before the December 15th Deadline imposed by the Supreme Court.

What happened when the 15th came? Did they come up with the rules for the cannabis industry in Mexico? Nope – “Mañana” as in until 2021.

However, the Mexican President – Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador – or AMLO for short – he had the following to say;

“They asked the (Mexican) Supreme Court for an extension because the two chambers could not come to an agreement and they were running out of time to make revisions. But it’s an issue of form, not substance. I believe this will be resolved” in the next session, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said in his daily news conference. - Source

In other words, AMLO is hinting that the progress for cannabis legalization is coming to completion, there are just some “kinks” to work out.

The deadline is now for the end of April 2021, which is good news for the US who is likely to vote on Federal Legalization in 2021. However, this may be concluded sooner seeing that the Deputies will take up the bill in February. In all likeliness, the lawmakers will only wait till the very end of the deadline to fully implement the law - as has been the case since the story first broke in 2017.

“There is no opposition to what the Senate authorized regarding the medicinal and limited use of marijuana. It’s just a matter of errors, lack of precision about the amounts and other contradictions in the law itself, and that’s what will be resolved,” Lopez Obrador said.

Will Mexico Have Legal Weed in 2021?

I believe we may see a bi-national legalization in 2021. In all likeliness, both the United States and Mexico will pass some form of legal cannabis framework on a national level. Once this occurs, the entire North American Continent would have legal cannabis, marking a significant shift in global politics surrounding the plant.

If we take the past few years as an indication in the trends surrounding cannabis, I believe in 2021 we’ll see it culminate with legalization in both the US and Mexico.

In fact, it would make sense for the US to legalize right after Mexico, which way the North American Cannabis Trade can officially kick off in 2022-2023.

The United States have always had a particular influence on the Mexican market, considering that the US is Mexico’s biggest client in multiple industries. It wouldn’t surprise me if the US and Mexican cannabis industries grow in tandem over the next few years.

Companies will be able to get cheaper prime material (cannabis/hemp) which will allow them to create a higher influx of products at more affordable prices.

We’ll also then begin to see the exponential growth of cannabis brands. This includes the participation of celebrities at higher intervals – as well as more corporate participation in the market.

Just like Mexican legalization – the United States should also consider including home cultivation. Without home cultivation on the books, cannabis legalization is essentially a corporate usurpation of the industry. It still criminalizes users and thus if cannabis is not only “Legal” but also “fully-decriminalized” – it’s a sham-legalization.

Mexico’s policy – even though it’s restrictive in home cultivation, does permit some cultivation which as I wrote previously – Is the last frontier for personal freedom.

We’ll have to wait and see what happens on the US side in the first 2 months of 2021. While we’re not sure that the Senate will play ball with the MORE Act, we know that there will be a major push for legalization on a Federal level – especially since the US election is now concluded.

Mexico came close to legalizing in 2020 – but in all likeliness, there’s no getting out of 2021 being the year Mexico legalizes cannabis nationally.