A cannabis legalization bill proposed in Mexico would permit possession and cultivation for people aged 18-and-older, tax sales at 12 percent, allow public consumption, cap personal possession at 1 ounce, and decriminalize possession up to 200 grams, according to a Bezinga report.
The bill allows personal cultivation up to 20 plants – which must be registered with the government – as long as the total yield doesn’t exceed 480 grams per year. Medical patients would be allowed to grow an additional 20 plants. Hemp and CBD would be exempt from regulations that apply to THC products.
Sen. Julio Ramón Menchaca Salaza of the ruling Morena party said the measure would allow cannabis to play a role in the nation’s economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
In 2015, Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled that citizens should be allowed to grow and consume the plant freely, and 2018, the court took the ruling a step further, declaring that cannabis prohibition in the nation was unconstitutional. Both decisions set the stage for broad legalization and draft legislation was unveiled last October. That bill did not allow public use, capped personal cultivation at four plants, and did not outline a tax structure.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said following his election in 2018 that he would not interfere with the Supreme Court decisions and expressed support for broad legalization on the campaign trail. The 2018 Supreme Court ruling set a deadline for Congress to enact the reforms but it has been delayed several times, according to Benzinga.
If the law is approved – as is eventually required under the Supreme Court ruling – Mexico would be the third country, joining Canada and Uruguay, to allow cannabis possession, use, and sales.
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