Legislation to legalize marijuana is coming after rulings this week by the Supreme Court regarding its recreational use.
Morena party Senator and future interior secretary Olga Sánchez Cordero said the party is preparing legislation that would regulate the production, sale and distribution of marijuana.
“We’re moving that way . . . toward the legalization of the use, not only medicinal but recreational, of marijuana. And I say this from my heart, we are celebrating it. The court set a marvelous precedent that will allow us to move forward,” said Sánchez.
In the lower house of Congress, party leader Mario Delgado Carrillo said his fellow lawmakers will go ahead with Sánchez’s proposal.
“The court set a precedent . . . allowing us to make a great step forward in terms of regulation that would allow the recreational consumption of marijuana . . . .” he said.
Jalisco Governor Aristóteles Sandoval Díaz agreed with the move, declaring before the state Congress that “it is time for a change . . . because what is killing our youth is drug trafficking, not drug use. Let’s put an end to taboos, legalize it now!”
“In the coming years, Jalisco will continue to have a progressive government and Congress that will be an example for the nation in terms of liberties and freedoms,” said the Institutional Revolutionary Party governor.
Not so enamored with the idea is the National Action Party, whose secretary general expressed concern about the Supreme Court ruling. Fernando Rodríguez Doval said it worried about the risk of greater addiction problems.
He also predicted that legalization would have little effect on organized crime activities.
Source: Reforma (sp), ABC Noticias (sp)
