Mexico’s First Female President Advocates for Marijuana Decriminalization
Claudia Sheinbaum, the first woman to become president of Mexico, has voiced her support for the decriminalization of cannabis and condemned the ongoing war on drugs, which she says harms society. Sheinbaum is campaigning against criminal penalties for marijuana users.
Sheinbaum won the presidential election on June 2, securing 58.65% of the vote and defeating her main rivals, businesswoman Xóchitl Gálvez and congressman Jorge Álvarez Máynez, who finished second and third, respectively. Notably, even if Sheinbaum had lost, Mexico would have had a female president for the first time in its history, as her main competitors were also women.
Sheinbaum is known for her liberal stance on cannabis regulation. She believes that criminal penalties for marijuana use disproportionately harm young people, who are considered a vulnerable segment of the population. For this reason, she opposes criminal prosecution for the use and possession of cannabis, aiming to prevent the criminalization of youth. She argues that this approach would reduce violent crimes related to drugs, such as robberies and assaults committed by users of illegal psychoactive substances.
Sheinbaum’s Vision for Cannabis Legislation
Claudia Sheinbaum believes that marijuana laws should be designed to benefit society as a whole. To achieve this, she proposes launching educational programs to inform Mexicans about the risks of cannabis use and ways to minimize harm. She argues that such measures would improve public safety and increase social justice.
Commercial Cannabis Legalization Remains Stalled
In 2021, Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled to eliminate penalties for recreational cannabis use. Former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador signed a law partially legalizing the plant, allowing citizens aged 18 and older to possess up to 28 grams of marijuana and grow up to six cannabis plants.
However, commercial use of cannabis remains illegal due to ongoing disputes between the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The Senate drafted a bill to lift the ban on cannabis sales, but the deputies amended 49 out of 61 articles, leading the Senate to reject the revised version. As a result, only cannabis clubs currently operate legally in Mexico. Members of these clubs are allowed to cultivate cannabis on club premises and consume up to 28 grams of marijuana per month in exchange for a monthly membership fee of 75 euros (about 7,256 rubles).