Mexico: High Court confirms Individual Right of Cannabis

1. Mexico: High Court confirms Individual Right of Cannabis In a 4-1 decision on November 4, the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Mexico ruled that the ban on the consumption and cultivation of cannabis for personal use is unconstitutional, reversing five articles narcotics officer status in the country, General Law of Health. The court found that the prohibition of cannabis consumption or cultivation for noncommercial purposes, violates the right to the “free development of personality”, enshrined in Article 19 of the Mexican Constitution.

2. The historic decision only applies to actual plaintiffs who challenged the provisions banning the General Health Law, it gives weight to legalization proposals being prepared in Congress of Mexico. “They are taking note of this case and use it to your advantage to file a law that will agree and protect the rights of people” Moy Schwartzman, an attorney for the plaintiffs, was quoted by AP. The case was filed by advocacy group Mexico United Against Crime, on behalf of the Mexican Association of Responsible consumption and Tolerance (SMART), which asked the Federal Commission for the Prevention of Health Risks (COFEPRIS) for the right to form a club of cannabis. The request was rejected, and challenged the refusal of the courts. Said Justice Arturo Zaldivar, who wrote the majority opinion: “Nobody has said anything that marijuana is a harmless drug and, as such, cause damage What this case is resolved that a total ban is disproportionate”. The high court ruled on only one of the three challenges, because of individual freedoms. Two remain: for reasons of health and social-the argument that the prohibition leads to violence and thus endangers the right to personal security. These are increasingly seen as legitimate. Last year, eight-year-old Graciela Elizalde of Monterrey became the first legal medical marijuana patient in Mexico, when a judge overturned the rejection of the request of his family for permission to get oil to treat his epilepsy CBD of the government. And Mexicans are disappointed in increasing numbers to the policies of “war on drugs” that seem to have only resulted in a nightmare of violence, with about 80,000 deaths in recent years.

3. The new ruler is definitely innovative. “It is unprecedented for the Supreme Court to introduce a human rights dimension in the debate on drug policy,” said Lisa Sanchez of Mexico United Against Crime. But under the legal system of Mexico, for the decision to be mandatory in all areas, not only in the current five plaintiffs -the judges of the Criminal Chamber to rule in the same way five times, or eight of the 11 have full court members will have to vote similarly. This was the process that led to the Supreme Court effectively legalized same-sex marriage in Mexico in June, the Criminal Chamber (also known as the First Chamber) weighing a fifth time after previous resolutions against state laws banning gay marriage.However, the odds are better that Congress act effectively first-and the new ruler of any judicial recourse to a measure of legalization is ahead. Mexico passed a law to decriminalize in 2009, that progressive lawmakers have been trying to expand since then, the introduction of new measures to increase the flow of “personal use” recognized amount of five grams. But pressure is mounting for the legalization-a general idea that has won the support of former President Vicente Fox.