Regulatory Framework · 2.1 Regulation of Specific Substances

Partial compliance.

Mexico has undergone a significant legal transformation regarding recreational cannabis use. The 2009 federal reform introduced a limited decriminalization model through possession thresholds for immediate personal consumption, while the Supreme Court of Justice, through General Declaration of Unconstitutionality 1/2018, recognized that the absolute prohibition of recreational cannabis self-consumption violated the constitutional right to free development of personality.

The available evidence confirms that constitutional recognition of adult self-consumption currently exists, along with a partial reduction of the exclusively punitive approach. However, Mexico still lacks comprehensive federal legislation fully regulating production, distribution, commercialization, and recreational cannabis sales under a nationally operational and homogeneous market framework. Significant legal uncertainty, police discretion, and regulatory gaps persist between constitutional recognition and practical implementation.

At the subnational level, no robust evidence was identified demonstrating differentiated recreational regulatory schemes in Mexico City, Puebla, Oaxaca, or Chiapas. In this context, Mexico demonstrates important legal advances toward decriminalization and protection of individual rights related to adult personal consumption, but it has not yet achieved a fully regulated recreational cannabis model under RC2 standards.