Regulatory Framework · 2.5 Mental Health and Vulnerable Groups

Partial compliance.

Mexico has a strong legal basis for protecting children and adolescents against substances. The General Law on the Rights of Children and Adolescents establishes the best interests of the child, the right to health, addiction prevention, and special protection measures. The General Health Law complements this framework with sanitary obligations on mental health, addictions, prevention of psychoactive-substance use, priority care for minors, and sanctions against conduct that induces or facilitates psychotropic-substance use among children or adolescents.

NOM-028-SSA2-2009 provides the most direct operational standard for addictions. The standard identifies children, adolescents, and minors living on the street as high-risk groups, and includes criteria for universal, selective, and indicated prevention, as well as conditions for admission, care, and age- and sex-appropriate spaces in treatment facilities. This shows that Mexico’s system is not limited to declaratory protection: there is a technical standard applicable to addiction prevention and treatment for minors.

The evidence block also includes strong sectoral protection against tobacco and nicotine. The General Tobacco Control Law prohibits sale and supply to minors, restricts advertising, promotion, and sponsorship, and establishes protection in educational institutions and school environments. In addition, SEP’s classroom prevention strategy documents a national school-based intervention aimed at preventing addictions in basic and upper-secondary education, with materials for teachers and students.

However, the indicator does not reach full compliance because the evidence does not confirm effective, homogeneous, and evaluated protection nationwide. Public evidence does not establish national results on real coverage of school prevention, early detection, referral pathways, specialized treatment for adolescents, control of sale and supply, inspections, sanctions, reduced exposure, reduced initiation of use, or state-level outcomes.

At the territorial level, Mexico City, Puebla, Oaxaca, Chiapas, and the complementary states remain probatory gaps regarding local implementation. These gaps do not prove absence of action, but they prevent validation of effective protection of minors against access, exposure, use, and substance-related harms. Consequently, Mexico demonstrates a legal framework, operational standards, and a relevant school-based strategy, but not sufficient evidence of homogeneous, enforced, and evaluated implementation. Partial compliance is appropriate.