Regulatory Framework · 2.3 Decriminalization of Personal Use

Partial compliance.

Mexico has a relevant national legal basis for voluntary rehabilitation in mental health, substance use, and addictions. The reformed General Health Law establishes a human-rights approach, community-based care, informed consent, and respect for the dignity of service users. In particular, hospitalization must operate as a therapeutic last resort, only on a voluntary basis, and when it provides greater benefits than other possible interventions. All treatment and hospitalization must be prescribed with prior informed consent.

This legal framework represents a substantive advance away from coercive rehabilitation models. The law recognizes users’ right to receive accessible, timely, and understandable information about the objectives, benefits, risks, and alternatives of treatment, as well as the right to accept or reject services. It also includes protection against isolation, coercive restraint, and treatments that violate personal integrity.

However, the indicator does not reach full compliance because the available evidence does not demonstrate homogeneous implementation of the voluntariness standard across the system. NOM-028-SSA2-2009 provides operational rules for prevention, treatment, and control of addictions, but it retains earlier language on voluntary, involuntary, and compulsory admission. It should therefore be read as a legacy operational source subordinated to the 2022 legal reform, not as proof of fully voluntary rehabilitation.

Independent CNDH evidence from Oaxaca introduces human-rights supervision of specialized addiction-treatment centers, but its scope is territorial and sector-limited. Mexico City provides context on the persistence of criminal responses to simple possession, not direct evidence of voluntary rehabilitation. Puebla, Chiapas, and the complementary states remain probatory gaps regarding territorial application, informed consent, absence of coercion, effective supervision, complaints, inspections, and outcomes.

Consequently, Mexico demonstrates a strong legal standard of voluntariness and informed consent, but not sufficient evidence of homogeneous operational compliance across public, social, and private addiction-treatment centers. Under RC2 criteria, partial compliance is the appropriate classification.