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Mexico close to legalising recreational marijuana use

WION Web Team
Mexico City, MexicoUpdated: Mar 11, 2021, 01:49 PM IST
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Photograph:(Reuters)

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A landmark Supreme Court ruling in 2015 opened the door to the recreational use of marijuana in Mexico. But it is still illegal to carry more than five grams (0.18 ounces). The amount would increase to 28 grams under the proposed law.

Mexico's lower house of Congress has voted Wednesday in favour of legalising recreational marijuana use.

A landmark Supreme Court ruling in 2015 opened the door to the recreational use of marijuana in Mexico. But it is still illegal to carry more than five grams (0.18 ounces). The amount would increase to 28 grams under the proposed law.

Up to eight plants would be allowed to be grown at home for personal consumption.

The lower house of Congress, the Chamber of Deputies, Wednesday approved the bill by 316 votes to 129. The law would make Mexico, home to 126 million people, one of just a few countries, including Uruguay and Canada, to legalize cannabis for recreational use.

The legislation, which still needs final approval by the upper house, is partly aimed at curbing drug-related violence that claims thousands of lives each year in the Latin American nation.

"In theory, it will create the largest legal market in the world due to Mexico's production capacity," the director of Mexico United Against Crime, a non-governmental organisation said.

The legislation was already approved by the upper house, the Senate, in November, but it will be sent back for another vote following changes by the lower chamber.

The opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and conservative National Action Party (PAN) voted against the bill. But they are outnumbered by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's Morena party and its allies in both chambers, and the legislation looks almost certain to be approved.