There may be more to Spring Break in Tijuana than drinking in the coming years.

Weeks after their Supreme Court opened the door to possibly legalizing cannabis, the Mexican Government has called for a series of debates over the issue to begin in mid-January of 2016 and culminating in late March, 2016.

In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court of Mexico ruled in November that a group of four people could grow and consume cannabis for recreational use. As this sets a precedent in Mexican law, President Pena Nieto is creating a trio of debates so that experts can weigh in on the matter.
“I am in favor of the debate so that experts on the topic can give us more clarity about where we should be heading: whether we should maintain the prohibitionist system or establish a regulation for certain uses of cannabis,” the President of Mexico said in a speech.

Though he is opposed to decriminalization of cannabis, Nieto stated that his government would be open to the idea of changing the laws, based on the outcome of the debates.

The legalization of cannabis in Mexico has a steep uphill battle, however. A country that has endured years of brutal violence and wide-scale corruption by drug cartels, which cost tens of thousands of lives, will be closely watching the debates.

Supporters of legalization argue that allowing recreational sales of cannabis will strip cartels of millions of dollars in revenue, while detractors argue that the corruption sewn by the cartels will simply find its way into the legal pot industry. This, they say, will give the cartels a legitimate public face and make it even more difficult to prosecute them.

Both the current and former Presidents of Mexico are opposed to any sort of legalization as well, with Pena Nieto insisting that cannabis legalization will be damaging to the youth of Mexico, and former president Vincente Fox stating that legalization of pot will lead to the legalization of all drugs – including heroin, methamphetamines, and cocaine. However, recent studies have shown that after legalization, cannabis use among teens dropped dramatically in Colorado, and that cannabis does not lead to harder, more dangerous drug use.

According to Cathy Reisenwitz, author of “U.S. Cannabis Legalization Already Weakening Mexican Cartels, Violence Expected to Decline”, the legalization of recreational and medicinal cannabis in the United States has allowed prices of pot to drop so low that some cartels have abandoned it altogether.

With both leading Democratic candidates (Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders) promising major cannabis reform, and the new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promising to legalize cannabis in Canada, are we on the brink of North America becoming the first continent to legalize?

by Amy W. for Trove Cannabis