'green rush'

held sway for decades. He believes farmers near him who cultivate the plant for narcos would want to sell their produce lawfully - if the government permits them.

"Most of the people want to work legally," said Contreras Sanchez, whose sister married into the family of former Mexican drug lord Amado Carrillo Fuentes. However Mexicans are by no means unified on this issue.

While a growing cannabis industry promises to be a money-spinner, it faces resistance from campaigners who are worried that regulations for both medical and non-medical cannabis will heavily favor big, often foreign corporations. They fear legislation will shut out small family producers and fail to offer a path to legalization for many farmers who make a living by feeding Mexico's illegal narcotics trade.

The initial regulations covering medical use permit entrepreneurs such as Nieto to grow marijuana on behalf of pharmaceutical companies and allows foreign businesses to import medical cannabis products into the country.

However Mexico's Supreme Court, which has effectively legalized cannabis by ruling prohibition is unconstitutional, has given the government until Dec. 15 to draft new legislation for the recreational use of cannabis. Monreal, Senate leader of the ruling National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) party, told Reuters that lawmakers were currently ironing out the finer details of the legislation.