Bangkok Post

Stoners get high next to Senate

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MEXICO CITY: A cannabis “garden” sprouting next to Mexico’s Senate building has become a smoker’s paradise, with Mexican stoners lighting up joints without fear of arrest.

The cannabis seeds sowed in a plaza by Mexico’s Senate by pro-marijuana activists in February have mushroomed into strikingly large plants, and become symbolic of a drive to legalise marijuana in a nation riven by drugsrelat­ed violence.

“Being able to smoke here [in the garden] in freedom is very important to me,” said Marco Flores, a barista sitting on a bench overlookin­g the Congress building. “I no longer go out on the streets in fear.”

Mexico’s Supreme Court has ruled that laws prohibitin­g cannabis use are unconstitu­tional but the government is yet to draft legislatio­n that would formally legalise marijuana, leaving pot-smokers facing criminal charges if caught smoking.

But in the garden run by pro-marijuana activists, people are allowed in for 30 minutes at a time and can light up in peace. So far police appear to be turning a blind eye to the practice, though it’s unclear how long that will last.

“It’s great that they have opened a space for people who are open to new experience­s, or who want to find out a little bit about this subject,” said Carlos Diaz, another smoker. “They can come and check it out.”

For Jose Rivera, a cannabis activist, the garden is a tool to educate and offer “human rights”.

“We want (Mexican lawmakers) to understand that we are smoking quietly and that we are not a risk to anyone,” he said. “Enough of this mistreatme­nt.”

 ?? REUTERS ?? An activist shows a place to meditate inside the cannabis protest garden, next to Mexico’s Senate building in Mexico City.
REUTERS An activist shows a place to meditate inside the cannabis protest garden, next to Mexico’s Senate building in Mexico City.

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