MEXICO CITY, (Reuters) – Mexico’s Supreme Court yesterday gave the green light to growing marijuana for recreational use in a landmark decision that could lead to legalization in a country with a bloody history of conflict with drug cartels.
Supporters of reform sparked up joints to hail the court’s decision, which, while not legalizing use of marijuana, is one of the boldest steps ever taken in that direction in a country long reluctant to liberalize drug laws.
“We’ve seen how drug policy and prohibition have only helped drug traffickers rake in money and commit terrible crimes to control drug markets,” said 27-year-old Meliton Gonzalez, one activist celebrating outside the court.
Four more consecutive decisions of the same kind and the court’s ruling would become jurisprudence, setting a legal precedent in Mexico, which has suffered well over 100,000 deaths due to drug-related crime over the past decade, and force the government to review the law.
Ruling on a case first brought in 2013 by an advocacy group that health regulators stopped from growing plants for private consumption, the court voted 4-1 that prohibiting people from cultivating the drug for personal use was unconstitutional.
Proponents of drug reform argue that criminalizing drugs has only raised their street value and put unnecessary strain on the penal system by filling prisons with low level dealers or people caught with small amounts.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, who has so far been skeptical about the merits of liberalizing drug laws, responded to the ruling by saying on Twitter it would “open a debate on the best regulation to inhibit drug consumption.”
“This does not mean that you can freely commercialize, consume and legalize the consumption of marijuana,” Pena Nieto said later, adding that raids to destroy illegal marijuana crops would continue apace.
Government officials sought to reinforce the message on television, telling the public the ruling was isolated to the four people who brought the case and insisting cultivating marijuana remained illegal for the rest of the population.
