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The legalization of drugs , marijuana specifically , is an issue that has been discussed in Mexico for a long time, without reaching decisions different to the ones that have prevailed in the last two years.
Whereas in other countries, they are taking steps toward legalization . On January 1, 2017, California, the most populated state in the U.S., started the sale of marijuana for recreational purposes . In October, Canada became the second country in America , after Uruguay , to legalize its consumption.
In September, the Global Commission on Drug Policy (GCDP), formed by former Presidents from different countries, Ernesto Zedillo is among them, urged the Mexican authorities to modify its anti-narcotics policy, not to criminalize the use of drugs and to propose regulations, which would represent a change in the model on the war on drugs.
In 2016, the outgoing government established its position in regards to the issue. It sent an initiative to open the market to the scientific and medical use of marijuana , as well as increasing the allowed quantity for personal use. The medical use of marijuana was approved in 2017, the second issue stuck in Congress .
Yesterday, an initiative proposed by Senator Olga Sánchez Cordero , a former minister of the Supreme Court and the incoming Internal Affairs Minister , was published in the Senate's Parliamentary Gazette, which, in case it is approved, will take the country on a different path, far away from the criminalization of marijuana consumption.
The ambitious project looks to regulate and control cannabis through the creation of an institute. Among other proposals, the project allows any person, over 18 years old, to plant, cultivate, harvest, and use up to 20 plants or marijuana for personal consumption in a private property. It envisions the possibility of integrating cooperatives of up to 150 members. It also includes the possibility of planting marijuana with commercial and industrial purposes . It also opens the possibility of smoking marijuana in public.
More and more governments are betting on a different way of approaching the issue of drugs . In the U.S. , 30 states have marijuana regulations , nine for its recreational use and the rest for its medical use, but the number will certainly increase after the mid-term elections , as many states carried out referendums to legalize cannabis .
A certain aftertaste of fright, indifference, and political motives stopped any action to legalize marijuana in recent years. Now, Mexico could become another cannabis market in the world. The issue of drugs deserves to be approached through a different lens. The decision is up to Congress .
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