Regulatory Framework · 2.3 Decriminalization of Personal Use

Partial compliance.

Mexico has a relevant legal basis for partial decriminalization of use and possession for immediate personal consumption. The General Health Law distinguishes between small-scale drug dealing, simple possession, consumers, drug-dependent persons, and possession intended for personal use. In particular, Article 478 establishes that prosecutors shall not bring criminal action when a consumer or drug-dependent person possesses narcotics in an amount equal to or below the Article 479 table, for strict personal consumption and outside the exclusions established by law.

However, this protection does not amount to full decriminalization of use and possession. Article 477 keeps simple possession criminally punishable when possession falls outside the limits and conditions of Article 478. Therefore, the maximum-dose table operates as a partial threshold for criminal-law exclusion, not as a general removal of criminalization. The Federal Criminal Code reinforces this interpretation because it preserves a punitive framework for drug-related conduct, including possession, supply, commerce, and other health-related offenses.

Supreme Court jurisprudence on cannabis represents an important advance by eliminating the absolute administrative prohibition on recreational self-consumption of marijuana and THC under the right to free development of personality. Nevertheless, its scope remains sector-specific: it does not generally decriminalize use and possession of all substances, nor does it replace comprehensive legislative reform.

Territorial evidence also does not support a finding of effective and homogeneous decriminalization. Mexico City provides evidence that simple possession continues to generate arrests, initial hearings, and judicial review. Puebla, Oaxaca, Chiapas, and the complementary states remain probatory gaps regarding territorial application of Article 478, effective non-prosecution, and institutional outcomes after the 2009 reform and the 2021 cannabis DGI.

Consequently, Mexico demonstrates partial decriminalization, conditioned and limited by legal thresholds, but not full, homogeneous, and verifiable decriminalization of use and possession under RC2 standards.