Groups in favor of the recreational use of marijuana, in a protest in Mexico City, on May 8. Galo Cañas (Cuartoscuro)
Police in the Oaxacan capital are instructed not to bother marijuana smokers if they are not bothering anyone.
They are asked not to smoke in children's places, near schools and hospitals or where there are smoke-free spaces or whoever expresses discomfort due to such consumption.
But the classic scandal-mongering arrests and extortion by law enforcement officials to which cannabis advocates were accustomed will no longer be possible.
And all this is not because of a new law, but because there was no law that said otherwise.
In addition, twenty licenses have been granted in the State to plant cannabis in an orderly manner and adjusted to certain uses.
The activists for the free consumption of marijuana have spent years trying to pave the way for smokers, seeking legal avenues, inciting changes in the laws or, as in the case of Oaxaca, demonstrating that there was no legal text that prevented smoking in the public road.
Between February and March there were some public protests in the city that ended with some arrests.
Everyone was told that it was a public scandal.
“We worked with our lawyers and discovered that there is no explicit prohibition on consumption, so we requested a meeting with the local authorities,” explains Miguel Fernández, who belongs to Plantón 4:20, from Mexico City and who moved to Oaxaca to instruct his companions in the protest.
The meeting took place on April 13.
They requested a document stating that you could not smoke on public roads and they did not obtain it, because there was none.
In such a way that the authorities ended up signing a statement in which the police are urged not to instigate smokers in any way;
and these are asked to be responsible with consumption so as not to bother those who do not like smoke.
“They exhort us not to smoke in front of children, adolescents or those who bother them.
But now the police can only invite us to move to another place, not arbitrarily arrest us, or extort money from us, which is exactly what they are often looking for, not complying with a law,” explains Fernández.
Oaxacan activists are happy with this step taken.
“We already have an official paper.
We have continued campaigning among the police, so that they know him, because, at first, they did not like him.
We wanted to do an act to read the document to them but they wouldn't let us, so we went in front of the municipal presidency to smoke”, continues Fernández.
Last June, the Supreme Court gave free rein to the recreational consumption of marijuana.
A historic ruling placed clear orders in a country that refuses to legislate on this matter.
Several articles prevented the consumption, acquisition and planting of seeds as well as the distribution of marijuana.
They were declared unconstitutional and Congress had the obligation to modify them, but time passed, protests followed and legislators ignored the orders issued by the judiciary.
So the Supreme Court dealt the final blow and declared the entire law unconstitutional, a figure that is hardly used.
“The consolidation of the free development of the personality in the recreational use of cannabis is a historic day for freedoms,” said the President of the Court, Arturo Zaldívar.
The potato was again in Congress to legislate in accordance with the constitutional recommendations.
Meanwhile, the health authorities are obliged to issue permits to plant and consume without the need for citizens to seek legal protection.
The criminal route, however, continues its course, and people can continue to be prosecuted for drug dealing, while this crime remains in the Penal Code.
The general declaration of Unconstitutionality was well received, but Mexico still has to wait for it to be legislated.
In the meantime, you have to apply for permits to plant and harvest.
That is what they have done in Oaxaca.
The Federal Commission for the Protection Against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris) has issued up to 26 licenses to plant and produce cannabis for medicinal use.
The Zapotec peasant towns will be able to plant their crops within the established limits.
San Pablo Güila, San Dionisio Ocotepec, San Nicolás Yaxe, El Tepehuaje, among others, will be able to take advantage of this market, which is very advanced in other parts of the world.
Pending final regulation, marijuana lives in a kind of limbo in Mexico, but the Court's decision has given a break not only to those who consume it, but also to those who can make it a way of life, with its planting and marketing.
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