The Mexican Supreme Court may terminate marijuana prohibition by the end of June 2021.
For the third time, the legislators in Mexico have missed the Supreme Court’s deadline for them to regulate marijuana. The most recent deadline ended on April 30, 2021. On June 28, the high court will discuss declaring marijuana prohibition unconstitutional and eliminating laws against its use from the books.
One activist particularly excited about the news said, “the court was more than patient. I’m glad that they finally stopped granting extensions and are now playing hardball.”
Original Supreme Court Ruling
In 2018, the Mexican Supreme Court ruled that marijuana prohibition for consumption and personal cultivation violates the constitutional rights to develop one’s personality. However, unlike in the U.S. legal system, in Mexico, Supreme Court decisions must be legislated by Congress before taking effect.
To date, Congress continues to be unsuccessful in drafting and approving legislation for cannabis. The Senate previously asked the high court for two deadline extensions but let the last one in April run out without asking for extra time.
Some activists assume that with the legislative elections taking place in June, lawmakers did not want voters to see them supporting legalizing marijuana because 58 percent of Mexicans are opposed to cannabis legalization.
Supreme Court Stepping In
Despite the inaction of Congress since 2018, Mexican marijuana consumers and cultivators might get legalization after all. Depending on how the June 28 high court meeting goes.
On the other hand, declaring a law unconstitutional after so many years is an unusual event in the Mexican legal system. Therefore, eight of the 11 Supreme Court judges will need to vote to declare the ban of marijuana unconstitutional. Then marijuana prohibition will end in Mexico.
The Senate leader of the Morena Party, Ricardo Monreal, said that “such a ruling would cause chaos”. Essentially, this ruling will strike regulations currently in place without replacing them with new guidelines to regulate the cannabis market.
Provided that lawmakers have had since October 2018 to change the laws that infringed on the rights of adults and failed to do so, this is not an unforeseen move on the court’s end. Not to mention the court, at the lawmakers’ request, approved extensions multiple times. They set deadlines for April 2020, December 2020, and finally for April 30, 2021.
The Effects of an Unconstitutional Ruling
If the high court does rule marijuana prohibition as unconstitutional, parts of the Mexico Constitution will become null and void. As a result, the factors that criminalize people over cannabis use will no longer be the law of the land.
This ruling will not relieve legislatures of their duty to develop and pass regulations for a legalized marijuana program like the production and sales of cannabis.
In a press release on Thursday from the #RegulationPorLaPaz Coalition, they said, “The step the court is taking increases the responsibility of the legislative branch in this matter.” Both branches of Congress have approved minutes for regulating cannabis; it is “necessary to continue the legislative process so that the work that has been invested to date is consolidated in the modifications necessary to guarantee the rights of citizenship.”
Peaceful Activism
Throughout the push to end prohibition, activists focused on bringing attention to the issue through lighthearted gestures.
This push involved planting and gifting marijuana. A senator on the Senate floor gave an administration official a cannabis plant.
In another instance, a different lawmaker gave the same administration official a marijuana joint on the chamber’s floor in 2019. Finally, Senator Jesusa Rodríguez decorated her desk with a marijuana plant.
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