Mexico’s Senate Approves Medical Marijuana Legalization

Mexico’s Senate has passed a bill approving the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. This is the latest ruling in a series of legal rulings that have relaxed Mexico’s marijuana laws.

Mexico’s Health Department would “design public policies to regulate the medicinal use of this plant and its derivatives,” remarked the Senate, reports The Washington Post. The new legislation will now be sent to the lower Chamber of Deputies for deliberation.

A member of President Enrique Pena Nieto’s party said the new medical marijuana law aims to solve Mexicans’ urgent need to get access marijuana-based medicines. She called it “a historic step” for Mexico.

One leftist senator that voted no, said the legislation would help certain patients suffering from some chronic illnesses, but believes it is a “very small” accomplishment that doesn’t address “the failure of the policy of combatting organized crime.”

Since the launch of a militarized offensive against Mexican drug cartels a decade ago, more than 100,000 people have been killed and some 30,000 more are missing.

Last year the Mexican government decriminalized small amounts of marijuana. They also issued several permits allowing a few citizens to cultivate and possess marijuana for personal use; however, they did not make the permits available to anyone else.