Country’s ban on recreational pot overturned

The Supreme Court of Mexico issued two rulings Wednesday that effectively overturned the country’s ban on the recreational use of marijuana.

The rulings follow similar decisions in three previous cases, dating to 2015. Under Mexican law, five such decisions set a binding precedent nationally.

“This 5th judgment means that, while the cannabis prohibition law nominally remains in place for now (and arrests remain possible), all judges nationally are now bound by the Supreme Court judgment as a defense in the (now much less likely) scenario of prosecutions being brought,” according to Transform, a think tank that was part of the effort to overturn the ban. “The legalization of cannabis for adult personal use, possession, private cultivation and sharing is therefore currently de facto (in practical effect), rather than de jure (formalized in law/ legislation).”

In a news release trans lated by Transform, the Supreme Court said “the fundamental right to the free development of the personality allows the persons of legal age to decide — without any interference — what kind of recreational activities they wish to carry out and protect all the actions necessary to materialize that choice.”

The right to the free development of the personality is a concept from the Mexican constitution, amounting to something like a right to selfdetermination. As in previous cases, the Supreme Court ruled this week that preventing individuals from using the drug violates their individual autonomy, particularly because marijuana use does not present enough risk to users or to others to justify keeping it outlawed. “The effects caused by marijuana do not justify an absolute prohibition on its consumption,” the court said.

The Mexican Congress now has 90 days to rewrite the nation’s drug laws to comply with the rulings, “at which point the reform will assume de jure status,” according to Transform.