Regulatory Framework · 2.3 Decriminalization of Personal Use

Partial compliance.

Mexico has limited legal recognition of recreational cannabis use, mainly developed through judicial action. Supreme Court General Declaration of Unconstitutionality 1/2018 removed the absolute administrative prohibition that prevented authorization of activities necessary for recreational self-consumption of marijuana and THC. This supports recognition of a restricted legal space for personal, adult, authorization-based self-consumption, but not general recreational legalization.

The General Health Law confirms this limited character. Its provisions on cannabis, THC, narcotics, and psychotropic substances maintain a sanitary-control framework, while Article 479 only establishes a maximum cannabis quantity for immediate personal consumption. That threshold may limit prosecution for possession in certain circumstances, but it does not by itself create rights to purchase, sell, supply, distribute, commercially produce, operate clubs or dispensaries, or trace a recreational market.

The Federal Criminal Code further delimits the scope of recognition because it preserves sanctions for drug-related conduct when it exceeds authorized self-consumption or strictly personal-use purposes. Therefore, Mexico’s recreational recognition coexists with an active criminal-law framework for production, transport, commerce, supply, and possession outside permitted circumstances.

The main operational gap concerns administrative implementation. No consolidated public COFEPRIS source was located documenting current guidelines, a standardized procedure, number of authorizations issued, response times, follow-up criteria, or administrative outcomes for recreational self-consumption after the DGI. At the territorial level, Mexico City shows persistence of simple-possession arrests, while Puebla, Oaxaca, Chiapas, and the complementary states remain probatory gaps regarding local application of the federal authorized self-consumption pathway.

Consequently, Mexico demonstrates limited recreational cannabis use through a judicial-administrative pathway, but not a fully regulated, operational, licensed, and verifiable national recreational regime under RC2 criteria.