Cannabis in Mexico

It became legal for recreational purposes in June 2021, upon application and issuance of a permit from the health secretariat, COFEPRIS (Comisión Federal para la Protección contra Riesgos Sanitarios).

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador signed a bill that allows adults 18 and over to possess up to 28 grams of cannabis and grow up to six marijuana plants on their property.

Cannabis had previously been illegal since 1920, personal possession of small amounts was decriminalized in 2009, and medical use of THC content less than one percent was legalized in 2017.

[7] Some academics also believe that indigenous Mexicans adopted psychoactive cannabis as the drug Pipiltzintzintli for ritual purposes and divination.

[11] Stories of users committing violent crimes were widely circulated by newspapers in Mexico and border towns of the United States.

[15] Following Mexican efforts to eradicate cannabis and poppy fields in 1975, the United States government helped by sending helicopters and other technological assistance.

Helicopters were used to spray the herbicides paraquat and 2,4-D (one of the ingredients of Agent Orange) on the fields; cannabis contaminated with these substances began to show up in US markets, leading to debate about the program.

[17] President Felipe Calderon claimed the change would allow law enforcement to focus on major traffickers rather than minor consumers.

[18] In November 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that four individuals from the Mexican Society for Responsible and Tolerant Personal Use (SMART) would be permitted to grow and consume their own cannabis.

[19][20] In June 2017, President Enrique Peña Nieto signed a bill into law to allow the medical use of cannabis products containing less than one percent THC.

[27] On March 10, 2021, the lower house of the Mexican Congress approved a bill legalizing recreational cannabis, in a 316-to-219 vote.