Marijuana Decriminalization Bill To Be Introduced By Mexico City Lawmakers

Animal Politico reports that Mexico City lawmakers with the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) are preparing to present a bill in the city’s Assembly which would further decriminalize marijuana in the Mexican capital. A 2009 federal law already decriminalized the possession of up to 5 grams of pot, as well as small amounts of other drugs, but the new legislation would seek to establish a constitutional basis for allowing the capital to create its own drug policies. The bill’s sponsors say it would also seek to combine aspects of recently passed legalization schemes in Colorado and Uruguay.

Notimex writes that the bill’s authors -- PRD lawmakers Esthela Damián, Daniel Ordóñez and Efraín Morales -- point to Colorado’s establishment of a 25 percent tax on marijuana sales, from which revenues will go toward education, as an example of a feature the legislation could include. They also highlighted in a press release several points which would be up for debate, such as the age at which marijuana could legally be purchased, if the city were to control sales of the substance. “While in the United States, one has to be 21 or older to buy legal marijuana, in Uruguay the minimum age is 18,” it read, adding that while in Colorado, the law would limit users to 28 grams per month, in Uruguay the ceiling is 40 grams.

The idea could face strong opposition from much of the Mexican public. Some 49.6 percent said in a September poll conducted nationally that they “strongly disagreed” with the idea of marijuana legalization. But similar to other countries in Latin America like Chile and Argentina, there is a significant shift in opinion according to age: some 73 percent of Mexican youths agree with legalization. “We have to start to recognize that there exists a great number of cannibis users,” said the press release. “It’s estimated that there are almost 80,000 in Mexico City. Even if it’s true that they can access it because the General Health Law authorizes the consumption of it up to 5 grams, it does not regulate its acquisition, which means users have to turn to the black market, with all the risks which that implies”.