PRD will push for legal pot in Mexico's Federal District

Mexico City, always avant-garde

Guadalajara -
Leaders of Mexico's leftist Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) have announced they will introduce legislation in the Federal District later this year which would allow the raising of marijuana plants in one's personal residence, permit consumption of cannabis in designated private clubs and authorize the transportation of up to 25 grams (.88 ounces) without criminal penalty.

If passed, the proposals would make Mexico City the first jurisdiction in the country to legalize marijuana for therapeutic and recreational purposes.

The Federal District was the first entity in Mexico to legalize same sex marriage, and abortion. It has been a PRD stronghold for many years.

A public opinion survey reported in November 2012 revealed that 79% of Mexicans are opposed to drug legalization, including marijuana. But PRD activists are not deterred, and say their legislation will be modeled after similar laws approved in Colorado and Washington last year. Mexico's incoming PRI government pays little attention to marijuana legalization efforts in U.S..

California is also again debating the recreational use of marijuana, after rejecting a legalization bill in 2010. The Obama administration threatened to sue the state at the time if if did so, but so far it has not reacted to the Colorado and Washington laws, which run afoul of federal statutes.

President Enrique Peña Nieto said May 24 that he is opposed to drug legalization, as did president Obama when he visited Mexico City three weeks earlier.

A PRD lower chamber deputy said last week that "most marijuana users are not addicts and are not criminals, but entirely functional persons."

Mexico's Supreme Judicial Court would have final say on whether the Federal District, or any of the country's other 31 states, is free by local enactment to disregard federal laws which yet prohibit the possession and use of marijuana for any reason. Similar legal issues exist in the United States.

Feb. 11, 2014 - PRD delegates will propose the legalization of marijuana in Jalisco state next week.

2013
Aug. 3 - Manuel López Obrador: no to marijuana legalization
Aug. 1 - Four former secretaries of state in Mexico's Federal District government, two of whom served in PRI administrations and the two in PAN, have publicly supported the decriminalization of marijuana in the nation's capital
May 30 - Former president Vicente Fox and ex-Microsoft exec want to "open pot trade with Mexico"
June 5 - Vicente Fox: "I'd raise marijuana, were it legal"
July 18 - Ex-president Vicente Fox: persona non grata in Oaxaca

© MGRR 2013. All rights reserved. This article may be cited or briefly quoted with proper attribution or a hyperlink, but not reproduced without permission.