As Canada legalizes pot, other countries likely to follow

SEATTLE >> More than two dozen countries have relaxed their marijuana or other drug laws, and a number could consider legalizing in the not-too-distant future. The South American nation of Uruguay was first to legalize marijuana in 2013. Canada became the second on Wednesday and its size and global standing likely will encourage others to follow. Here’s a look at other nations that could be influenced by Canada’s legalization: NEW ZEALAND The government announced late last year that medical marijuana would be allowed, and the country is due to hold a national referendum by 2020 on whether to legalize and regulate adult use of marijuana. The exact language and scope of the referendum question remain unclear.

“That they’ve agreed to have a referendum shows how far the debate has come in New Zealand,” says Steve Rolles, a senior policy analyst at Transform, a global drug law reform organization based in England. “And the fact they have a model in Canada — a country they have good relations with, that they’re quite similar to culturally — can only help the reform cause.”

For now, recreational cannabis remains illegal, with possible penalties ranging from a $500 fine for possession to a 14-year jail term for its growth or distribution. MEXICO Ravaged by drug war violence and corruption, Mexico decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana and other drugs in 2009. A series of Mexico Supreme Court rulings beginning in 2015 began laying the groundwork for marijuana legalization by holding that people should have the right to grow and distribute marijuana for personal use.

The country’s incoming interior minister, Olga Sánchez Cordero, participated in some of those rulings as a Supreme Court justice and has said she will push for broad marijuana legalization. She has the blessing of incoming President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who won office in July and whose party controls both houses of Mexico’s Congress.

“Mexico is really the significant comer in this debate,” says John Walsh, of the advocacy group Washington Office on Latin America. “It’s likely they’ll be debating legislation to regulate their national cannabis market next year.”