{"id":7504,"date":"2017-06-22T18:02:10","date_gmt":"2017-06-22T18:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com?p=2692749&amp;preview_id=2692749"},"modified":"2017-06-22T18:02:10","modified_gmt":"2017-06-22T18:02:10","slug":"mexico-officially-legalizes-medical-marijuana-but-dont-expect-a-swift-rollout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/mexico-officially-legalizes-medical-marijuana-but-dont-expect-a-swift-rollout\/","title":{"rendered":"Mexico officially legalizes medical marijuana, but don\u2019t expect a swift rollout"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/mexico-officially-legalizes-medical-marijuana-but-dont-expect-a-swift-rollout\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"large-10 large-centered small-12 columns\">\n<div class=\"entry-meta-date\">Published: Jun 22, 2017, 7:52 am \u2022 Updated: Jun 22, 2017, 11:38 am<span class=\"single-comments-link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/06\/22\/mexico-medical-marijuana-legalization\/82181\/#disqus_thread\" class=\"commentsNameLink\" \/><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"byline\">By <strong>Amanda Erickson<\/strong>, <em> The Washington Post<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Mexican President Enrique Pe\u00f1a Nieto signed a decree this week legalizing medical marijuana. The measure also classified the psychoactive ingredient in the drug as \u201ctherapeutic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The new policy isn\u2019t exactly opening the door for medical marijuana dispensaries on every corner.<\/p>\n<p>Instead it calls on the Ministry of Health to draft and implement regulations and public policies regulating \u201cthe medicinal use of pharmacological derivatives of cannabis sativa, indica and Americana or marijuana, including tetrahydrocannabinol.\u201d It also tasks the ministry with developing a research program to study the drug\u2019s impact before creating broader policies.<\/p>\n<p>The measure had broad support from Mexico\u2019s Senate and Lower House of Congress, where it passed 347-7 in April.<\/p>\n<p>Marijuana legalization advocates are celebrating the decision, and calling on the government to do more. Sen. Miguel Barbosa said the legislation was \u201cwell below the expectations of society.\u201d Sen. Armando Rios Peter called it a \u201ctiny\u201d step away from a failed drug policy.<\/p>\n<p>For decades, Latin America has struggled to address the rampant corruption and violence wrought by the drug trade. Lately, many places have focused on a particular strategy: decriminalization. As my colleague Josh Partlow wrote last year: \u201cUruguay has fully legalized weed for sale. And a large chunk of South and Central America, including Brazil, Peru, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica, have made marijuana more available in varying ways, whether it is for medicinal or recreational use.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a recognition, he wrote, that \u201cyears of violent struggle have failed to stem the flow of narcotics into the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even so, conservative Mexico kept its tight drug laws in place. In part, it was because legalization was unpopular. One poll found that about 66 percent of Mexicans oppose decriminalization of marijuana. Also, violence around drug trafficking has had a tremendous impact on the country \u2014 experts estimate that 100,000 people have been killed in the last decade because of the cartels.<\/p>\n<p>The Catholic Church also remains staunchly opposed. \u201cA drug is a drug even if it\u2019s sold as a soft medicinal balm. Bad Mexican copycats emulate the neighbor to put on the table of \u2018sane democracy\u2019 a bleak, absurd and counterproductive debate,\u201d the church wrote in an editorial. \u201cRecreational marijuana is a placebo to ease the pain of the social destruction in which we irremediably wallow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s beginning to change though. Recreational marijuana is still broadly prohibited in Mexico, but the government is considering a measure that would let citizens legally possess up to an ounce of it. In 2015, Mexico\u2019s Supreme Court granted four people the right to grow their own marijuana for personal consumption. The ruling set a precedent that could accelerate efforts to pass legislation permitting broader use of pot. \u201cAbsolute prohibition is excessive and doesn\u2019t protect the right to health,\u201d Justice Olga S\u00e1nchez Cordero said at the time.<\/p>\n<p>Pe\u00f1a Nieto, who once was a vocal opponent of drug legalization, has undergone a similar shift in thinking. He has said that addiction should be thought of as a \u201cpublic health problem,\u201d and that users should not be criminalized. He\u2019s also advocated for the United States and Mexico to follow similar policies on drug use and marijuana legislation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo far, the solutions [to control drugs and crime] implemented by the international community have been frankly insufficient,\u201d Pena Nieto General Assembly Special Sessions in April. \u201cWe must move beyond prohibition to effective prevention.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- .row --> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto signed a decree this week legalizing medical marijuana. The measure also classified the psychoactive ingredient in the drug as &#8220;therapeutic.&#8221; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7143,6813,77,5667,56,9,86,6833,5019,441,1777,1,3,61,1736],"tags":[7144,6818,2655,5673,2636,2664,6835,5022,3015,4345],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7504"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7504\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}