Regulatory Framework · 2.3 Decriminalization of Personal Use

Partial compliance.

Mexico has a relevant legal basis that partially limits criminal prosecution for possession intended for immediate personal consumption. The General Health Law establishes a differentiated framework for small-scale drug dealing, simple possession, and possession for personal use. In particular, Article 478 provides that prosecutors shall not bring criminal action against consumers or drug-dependent persons when possession remains within the quantities established in the Article 479 table and under the specific conditions set by law.

However, this protection is limited and conditional. Article 477 keeps simple possession criminally relevant outside the strict conditions of Article 478, meaning that the maximum-dose table operates as a partial threshold for criminal-law exclusion, not as a general elimination of imprisonment for consumption or consumption-related possession. The Federal Criminal Code reinforces this interpretation because it maintains a punitive framework for drug-related health offenses, including possession, supply, commerce, and other related conduct.

There are also procedural mechanisms that may reduce imprisonment in specific cases, such as alternative dispositions, reparation agreements, or conditional suspension of proceedings. Nevertheless, these tools do not substantively eliminate criminal punishment or establish a nationwide abolition of custodial penalties for consumption. Supreme Court jurisprudence on cannabis strengthens constitutional protection for self-consumption in that sector, but it does not repeal the general simple-possession framework or extend abolition of imprisonment to all substances.

At the territorial level, the evidence also does not support a finding of homogeneous implementation. Mexico City provides evidence of local application of the simple-possession and small-scale drug-dealing framework, while Puebla, Oaxaca, Chiapas, and the complementary states remain probatory gaps regarding territorial application of Article 478 and the effective absence of imprisonment for consumption.

Therefore, Mexico demonstrates partial and conditional decriminalization for immediate personal consumption within legal thresholds, but not a full, homogeneous, and substantive elimination of prison sentences for consumption under RC2 criteria.