Mexico Says "Sí" to Weed Legalization

Mexico’s constitution protects the notion that an individual is free to use his or her best judgment concerning what’s best for his or her life and body, as long as it doesn’t infringe on other’s rights. This philosophy now applies to marijuana.

The Mexican government's medical protection agency said the recent permits to grow and possess marijuana were granted only to the four plaintiffs who won the November Supreme Court ruling. The four plaintiffs — two lawyers, an accountant and a social activist — are allowed to “sow, grow, harvest, prepare, possess, transport and consume marijuana for recreational uses,” the court said.

According to CBS News, the permits “don’t allow the sale or distribution of the drug.” The permits also do not allow “smoking marijuana in the presence of children or anyone who hasn’t given consent.”

So how did four people get the Supreme Court to allow them to produce, possess, and consume marijuana – when is illegal for anyone else in Mexico to do so?

The Atlantic reports that this particular case was brought to the Supreme Court by four members of the Mexican Society for Responsible and Tolerant Consumption (or SMART, in Spanish).

In 2013, the group filed a legal petition demanding "the right to grow, own, and use marijuana." The petition twas initially denied, but then they appealed to the Supreme Court.

According to Fusion, SMART’s strategy was “different from the overall legalization debate [in Mexico], which focuses on drug-war death tolls and disappearances.” SMART argued "that the government is infringing on the constitutional doctrine of the free development of personality,” granted to all Mexicans under the constitution.

Out of all legal arguments the team could have presented, this is the one granted the four vigilant Mexicans the right to marijuana! The winning argument and other court documents are available on SMART’s website.

It is incredible to see the Mexican Supreme Court rule that growing and consuming marijuana is covered under the right of "free development of personality." Meanwhile, in America, the same argument would probably be thrown out of court!

SMART made the case that “using marijuana is just one way for individuals to differentiate themselves from the rest of society, and that since the Mexican constitution protects the individual’s right to be unique and independent, the state cannot infringe upon that right when the consequences of marijuana consumption—be they positive or negative—only affect the individual who chooses to use the drug.”

Although the court's ruling doesn't imply a general legalization, more individuals have come forward, citing the same reasoning. Currently, there are five similar petitions pending, and if the court rules the same way on those five petitions, “it would then establish the precedent to change the law and allow general recreational use,” CBS News reports.

Also interesting to note, President Enrique Pena Nieto has repeatedly stated he opposes legalization, and the number of Mexicans who consume marijuana or approve of its use is extremely small, especially when compared to their American neighbors. The government’s last poll numbers estimate "only 5 to 6 million Mexicans consume marijuana in a country of approximately 120 million." Meanwhile, 53 percent of Americans want marijuana to be legalized, and 49 percent of Americans claim they have tried marijuana. 

“The state cannot prohibit you from eating a bunch of tacos because it’s bad for your health,” Andres Aguinaco, one of SMART’s lawyers, explained. Applying this logic to marijuana, under the Mexican constitution, citizens have a basic human right to get high.

So come on, America. Get with the program!