Legalizing marijuana in Mexico

The drug policy debate in Mexico has just brought an important chapter to a close with the sanction of the so-called “Street drug dealing Law”. The law establishes minimum quantities of drugs to differentiate those in possession of drugs into two categories: drug users and sellers. However, the drug policy debate is far from over, going full throttle over a number of bills that propose to decriminalize and legalize the production, commercialization and consumption of marijuana.

Senator René Arce, from the Partido Revolucionario Democrático PRD (Democratic Revolutionary Party), is one of the legislators behind the proposal, which still has to go througha number of debates in the legislative and public opinion arenas. Even if charged with controversy, the idea has already been debated in other regions. Even the governor of the state of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has recently accepted the possibility of debating the viability of legalizing marijuana. In this interview, René Arce explains the bill on marijuana, and explains the consequences of the recently approved law on street drug dealing.

What are the debates on the new law on marijuana about?

Much more than a new law, it is an initiative to reform two laws (the General Health Law, and the General Law on Import and Export Taxes), as well as the Federal Penal Code and the Federal Penal Procedures Code. Its purpose is to regularize and legalize the cultivation, production, transport, trafficking, racking, distribution, supply, commercialization, prescription, consumption and exportation of marijuana (cannabis sativa, Indica and Americana), its seeds and derivate products. The initiative was presented on November 6, 2008 before the Plenary of the Senate of the Republic and is being discussed, without a determined date for its conclusion. 

Where does the initiative come from? It in not easy for countries like Mexico or Colombia to be in the vanguard of the drugs policy… How did the initiative come to light?

The initiative comes to light, on one side, from the verification of the resounding failure of the prohibitionist and criminalizing strategy widely established since the second half of the 20th century in the whole world, against the illegal use and trafficking of narcotic and psychotropic drugs. On the other side, it derives also from the consideration that in order to efficiently fight drug trafficking it is necessary to consider it above all as a great international business that generates huge profits (of around 30 billion dollars only in Mexico and 500 billion dollars worldwide, according to the conservative data provided by the United Nations), which has led criminal organizations to have a great economic and political power, a great fire capacity, and also in terms of logistics and operation. 

That is why the initiative intends to open the way to the construction and application of a new paradigm for the fight against drug trafficking, a paradigm that goes beyond the prohibitionist concept and towards the scope of public health, by placing emphasis on the prevention, damage reduction, treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts as well as on the individual freedom of decision by the citizens.

The Mexican society agrees with in this point?

There are, at least, two antecedents that I’d like to highlight: in the 8th issue of the Generación magazine of August 1996, dedicated to marijuana, a manifest was published, signed by 87 renowned Mexican intellectuals, journalists and researchers, among them Carlos Monsiváis, Roger Bartra, Juan Villoro, José Agustín, Elena Poniatowska, José Luis Cuevas, Juan José Gurrola, Homero Aridjis, René Avilés Fabila, which in its substantial part says the following: "...we urge all actors of national life, the authorities, political parties and other social organizations, as well as the legislative chambers to debate, without false morals and seriously, on the decriminalization of marijuana (among the forbidden drugs, the most produced and consumed in Mexico), as a first step to dismantle the drug trafficking networks and in the future to legalize, with the particularities of each case, the consumption of other drugs, much of them less harmful than alcohol and tobacco.”

On the other side, on October 14, 2008, one month before the initiative was presented to the Senate, to the Legislative Assembly of the Federal District-ALDF, (equivalent to the local House of Commons) an initiative was presented by the majority parliamentary group (of the PRD) for legislative reforms to legalize the cultivation, distribution and consumption of marijuana. Both initiatives have allowed for the realization of two important discussion forums on the issue, one of them organized by the ALDF and, the other one by the House of Commons, in which manifestations have been made both pro and against by federal and state authorities, as well as scientists, intellectuals, researchers, journalists, artists, etc. In the media, both written and electronic, the issue has been recurrently mentioned, which has helped to treat it in a more reflexive manner, and that has exactly been one of the central objectives when we decided to present the initiative on legalization to the Senate of the Republic.

Can you briefly explain the proposed changes?

It would be very tiring to detail here the many different modifications proposed to each one of the abovementioned laws and to the two federal penal codes¹, due to which I’ll try and provide an account of the most relevant aspects: powers are granted to the federal government to acquire the totality of harvests, as well as to define the zones where the cultivation of cannabis might be allowed, with which we may ensure the adequate control of the entire process connected to the legalization of marijuana; it is forbidden the sale of more than 5 grams of cannabis to each consumer; it is not allowed the entry of minors into establishments where the sale of the cannabis has been authorized; it is forbidden to sell or supply marijuana, its resin or byproducts to minors; it is not allowed the consumption of marijuana on public ways or in establishments not authorized by the Health Secretariat, due to which the private domiciles become spaces for free consumption. It is authorized the cultivation of up to five cannabis plants for personal consumption, therapeutic uses or non-commercial decoration at the private homes.

The exportation of cannabis will be regulated by the Federal Executive Power in conformity with the national and international laws. It is established the express prohibition of making publicity related to the cannabis and its derivates, except for government campaigns or by civil and social organizations that are dedicated to the prevention of its consumption and the rehabilitation of drug addicts. The penal sanctions will no longer be a constitutive part of the General Health Law. It is a wrong concept that the general laws on issues related to health, education, culture or other similar issues, become substitutes and annexes of the penal code. Due to that, all penal sanctions related to the spirit of this reform, are referred to the Federal Penal Code.  In order to follow the proposal that the Federal Penal Code is the one to contain the sanctions, a full Chapter has been added to deal with all matters related to Street Drug Dealing, and I’ll refer to this specific issue below. It also sanctions those who might benefit from the legalization of marijuana and derivate products to cover offenses against health through the use of illicit substance or other related crimes such as hijacking, arms trafficking or of persons, money laundering, pederasty networks or other crimes.

Obviously, the illicit cultivation of cannabis sativa, Indica and Americana or marijuana is eliminated.

The importation and exportation of marijuana and derivate products will be subject to the importation and exportation taxes corresponding to the rules established by the Customs Law and by the laws related to their application. The Governments of the Federative Entities shall exercise the verification and health control of the establishments that may sell or supply to the public cannabis sativa, Indica and Americana or marijuana, its resin (hashish), its oil (hash), its seeds and derivate products.

How has been the elaboration and approval process of the recently sanctioned law on street drug dealing?

These already approved legal modifications as regards street drug dealing place an emphasis on the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts, by obliging the Health Secretariat to elaborate and enforce a National Addiction Prevention Program and, at the same time, decriminalize consumption, by allocating this problem to the field of public health.  For that purpose, it has been elaborated and approved a Personal and Immediate Consumption Maximum dose Guidance Table that allows consumers the following quantities of narcotics or psychotropic substances: opium, 2 gr.; diacetylmorphine or heroin, 50 mg; cannabis sativa, Indica or marijuana, 5 gr.; cocaine, 500 mg; lysergic acid (LSD), 0.015 mg; MDA, methylenedioxyamphetamine, powder, granulated or crystal, 40 mg or in tablets and capsules, one unit with a weight not greater than 200 mg; MDMA, dl-34- methylenedioxye-dimethylphenyletylamine, 40 mg or one unit with a weight not greater than 200 mg; methamphetamine, 40 mg or one unit with a weight not greater then 200 mg.

Now, if the quantity of the narcotic substance is inferior to the one resulting from the multiplication by one thousand of the quantity allowed for personal consumption in that table, then it is typified, sanctioned and fought as street drug dealing; if the quantity of narcotic is equal to or greater than the one resulting from the multiplication by one thousand of the quantity allowed for personal consumption in that table, then it is typified, sanctioned and fought as drug trafficking. That determines, then, the competence of the federal or local authorities to prevent, persecute, investigate and sanction the offense, as well as the execution of sentence, since it already involves either street drug dealing or drug trafficking. (Click here for further information on the Law on street drug dealing).

What are the reaches of the law? That is, on one side its supporters claim that it does not intend to legalize the consumption of drugs in Mexico, but indeed to strengthen drug fighting through new attributions to the state police, while its opponents claim that it will stimulate the consumption or that it only prosecutes precisely the small drug dealers and not the “great dealers”, what is your view in that regard?

The legislative reform initiative I have presented last November intends indeed to legalize cannabis and its derivates, as a strategy to dismantle the system of operations that comprise since the illegal production, trafficking and sale of drugs up to the operations of a financial, business and money-laundering type that allow the organized crime to obtain billionaire profits, which are its main source of power to corrupt and infiltrate police organisms; to dominate, intimidate and even to impose rules to political authorities and, now, even to intend to dominate territories and claim to be, at some places, a parallel power to the State.  

Whenever initiatives to decriminalize the consumption of drugs come up, the question comes up also on how to ethically support the legalization of consumption and not the legalization of the sale, what is your opinion on that regard?

In that case, we have proposed the legalization both of the consumption and of the sale of cannabis, under State control, with a focus on public health and giving priority to the prevention of addiction, as I have already mentioned.  In the initiative presented by me, there is no such ethical antithesis as mentioned in your question.
   
A recent study says that the number of drug addicts in Mexico has been raised to 300 thousand, being doubled in the last six years and the fear by more conservative sectors is that the new law increases consumption even more. The law forecasts mechanisms to prevent consumption?

The problem is even greater: the National Addiction Survey undertaken last year (2008) revealed that in Mexico the experimental consumption of drugs has increased, in only six years, by 28.9% by going from 3.5 to 4.5 million persons, the children and the youth being the target of drug-dealing groups.  The number of chronic drug addicts has increased by 51%. According to the data reported in 2002, 307 thousand persons were drug addicts, while in 2008 this figure increased to 465 thousand. Upon disclosing the preliminary results of this National Survey, the Health Secretary, Mr. José Ángel Córdova Villalobos said: “As a total in the country 465 thousand people require specialized attention; four million people need brief attention and 80 per cent of the population require some type of universal prevention against drugs”. This data, which as a trend are not exclusive to Mexico, demonstrate that prohibitionist and punitive policies do not lead to a decrease in the consumption of drugs.  It is quite the contrary. For this reason the already approved legal modifications as regards street drug dealing and the proposal to legalize marijuana have in the prevention of drug dependency and addiction one a of their main pillars. The prevention and control of damage constitute the elements of a proactive policy that, we sure about that, will provide better results as regards the diminution in the consumption and, especially, in the number of drug addicts.

There is a great opposition in United States against this type of proposal, how can we claim this is the best way to fight drug trafficking?

There has been an important change in the Presidency and in the composition of the American Congress, as a result of the elections last year. This is an element we should not minimize or ignore in international relations. Associated to that, the Mexican State has placed a great emphasis on the fact that we are neighbors of the country with the greatest drug consumption in the world, with a market that generates huge profits to drug traffickers, and it will always be attractive for criminal groups on both sides of the border that re wiling to challenge police forces and corrupt them, both in United States and in Mexico. This reality has been fully accepted by the current administration of President Barack Obama. The State Secretary, Hillary Clinton, has expressed her agreement with the premise that it is necessary that the United States accept their co-responsibility in the genesis and in the solution of the problem and, therefore, that they assume the commitment of working harder to decrease drug consumption within their borders, as well as to help so that firearms (many of them with a high destructive power) come from that country directly into the hands of the illicit groups associated to organized crime that operate in Mexico.  In that sense, it is opportune to mention that, according to the official data, there are 12 thousand legal sales points of firearms along the Mexican-American border, of course, located on the American side and that are sold without any control over or registration required from whoever has enough money to acquire them.

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¹18 articles may be reformed in the General Health Law and another 14 laws may be added; 9 articles may be reformed in the General Law on Import and Export Taxes; 14 articles may be reformed in the Federal Penal Code, with the addition of 9 new ones and the derogation of 2 other articles from that same Code; and, finally, 7 articles may be reformed and 1 article derogated from the Federal Penal Procedures Code. At a total, it has been proposed the reformation of 48 articles, the addition of 23 articles and the derogation of 3 articles from the abovementioned 2 laws and the 2 federal penal codes.