HomeNewsBriefMexico Personalities Call for Marijuana Legalization
BRIEF

Mexico Personalities Call for Marijuana Legalization

DRUG POLICY / 27 SEP 2013 BY MARGUERITE CAWLEY EN

Former officials and current celebrities have signed a petition advocating for the legalization of marijuana in Mexico, adding weight to the campaign to make Mexico City the next place to break away from the prohibitionist model.

The petition, put out by a group called "For the decriminalization of marijuana," claims that legalization would significantly limit the revenues of criminal groups. Other points include the overly harsh current penalties for carrying over five grams of marijuana (the currently legal limit for personal consumption), the limited negative effects of the drug compared with legal drugs like alcohol, and changing international perceptions towards legalization.

Among the signatories were former Government Secretary Fernando Gomez Mont, former Foreign Minister Jorge Castañeda, and film star Gael Garcia Bernal.

InSight Crime Analysis

The timely blessing of Mexican celebrities comes as Mexico City lawmakers prepare a bill that could legalize growing marijuana and consuming it in private clubs, putting the capital at the forefront of Mexico's legalization debate.

Mexico, one of the world's largest marijuana producers, has been forced to reconsider marijuana policy following legalization in some US states, as stated last year by the head of President Enrique Peña Nieto's transition team.

The drug-plagued nation is not alone, as other countries in the region have also begun to take up the legalization debate in the face of the failure of the US-led "war on drugs" to stem the flow of narcotics or the violence associated with trafficking. Leading the way is Uruguay, which is now close to becoming the first country to pass a bill regulating the sale, purchase and cultivation of the drug on a national scale.

SEE ALSO: Uruguay: Marijuana, Organized Crime and the Politics of Drugs

As the petition states, such moves would remove an important source of revenue for organized crime groups, especially in Mexico, where cartels profit from both the domestic market and exports to the United States. However, criminal organizations have also shown a tremendous ability to adapt to changing conditions by finding new drug markets and expanding activities such as kidnapping and extortion, meaning they would likely find ways to make up for lost profit.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

JALISCO CARTEL / 3 SEP 2021

Criminal groups in Mexico are posting in public lists of police they plan to kill, and the message often comes…

COLOMBIA / 26 OCT 2021

Two top police commanders in Colombia and Mexico have recently admitted to filtering sensitive information to drug traffickers while working…

HUMAN RIGHTS / 14 JUL 2021

The new Netflix series, “Somos.,” (We Are), offers a respectful but powerful look at the Allende massacre, one of the…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

All Eyes on Ecuador

2 JUN 2023

Our coverage of organized crime in Ecuador continues to be a valuable resource for international and local news outlets. Internationally, Reuters cited our 2022 Homicide Round-Up,…

WORK WITH US

Open Position: Social Media and Engagement Strategist

27 MAY 2023

InSight Crime is looking for a Social Media and Engagement Strategist who will be focused on maintaining and improving InSight Crime’s reputation and interaction with its audiences through publishing activities…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Receives Great Reception

27 MAY 2023

Several of InSight Crime’s most recent articles about Venezuela have been well received by regional media. Our article on Venezuela’s colectivos expanding beyond their political role to control access to…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report Continues

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.