Mexican Senate Committees approve marijuana bill

by druginc

Mexican Senate Committees have signed a bill to legalize marijuana nationally.

During a joint meeting of the Justice, Health, Legislation and Public Safety Committees last Tuesday, members approved the revised reform legislation good that was distributed on the weekend prior.

The proposed legislation will allow adults 18 and older to own and cultivate marijuana for personal use. Individuals can grow up to 20 registered plants as long as the total yield does not exceed 480 grams per year. However, medical patients can apply to grow more than 20 plants.

Personal possession would be limited to 28 grams, but possession to 200 grams would be decriminalized.

The vote of the combined committees was 26 against 7.

The legislation can then go directly to the senate floor, or the panels could continue to discuss it and perhaps approve a modified version. After the bill is approved by the Senate, it will be dealt with in the Chamber of Deputies.

The Mexican institute for the regulation and control of cannabis, a decentralized body set up under the measure, would be set up and be responsible for regulating the market and granting licenses for marijuana companies.

The bill proposes a 12 percent tax on the sale of cannabis, and some income goes to a fund for substance abuse treatment.

Public consumption would be allowed, except in areas designated as 100 percent smoke-free. Hemp and CBD are exempt from regulations that apply to THC products.

This progress comes despite President Andrés Manuel López Obrador as saying last month that the administration is targeting medical cannabis reform, rather than legalization for the recreational use of marijuana by adults.

Regardless of that statement, lawmakers are set to reform marijuana laws for medical, recreational and industrial purposes.

The vote represents "a big step ... in the fight against violence and the fair treatment of human rights," said Senator Julio Menchaca Salazar of the ruling MORENA party.

Democratic Revolution Party Senator Miguel Ángel Mancera said that while "there are still problems," he agreed to move the bill forward "to take a fundamental step in recreational, medical and industrial regulation in our country."

Parties in Mexico are divided on the cannabis bill

Members of the PAN party oppose the bill, while the legislators of the PRI party abstain from voting.

After the Supreme Court ruled at the end of 2018 that the ban on marijuana for personal use is unconstitutional, lawmakers set to work on drafting a broad bill.

That legislation was approved by Senate committees last year before the court's October deadline, but before it cast a vote, lawmakers called for an extension and the court granted it. Now they have to vote on the final ban at the end of April.

Proponents have expressed frustration with the revised version and have noted that it has not been changed to address their concerns.

They want to improve the provisions on social fairness, protect cannabis consumers and ensure that the market empowers domestic farmers, especially those most affected by the drug war.

“We still want the regulation, but this version doesn't meet the essential minimums,” wrote the civil rights advocacy group Mexico Unido.

Sources including El Universal (EN), MarijuanaMoment (EN), MJBizDaily (EN)

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