For more than 5 grams of marijuana will not be penalized ex officio


The First Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) declared it unconstitutional to penalize the possession of more than 5 grams of marijuana, unless the ministerial and judicial authorities prove that it is not for personal consumption.

With the vote of the ministers Ana Margarita Ríos Farjat, Juan Luis González Alcántara and Alfredo Gutiérrez Ortiz Mena, the First Chamber declared the unconstitutionality of the normative portion of article 478 of the General Health Law, which establishes “in an amount equal to or less than the provided therein”.

The approved project made it clear that the criminal type that provides for the criminal conduct of simple possession of narcotics in article 477 of the General Health Law is not declared unconstitutional, nor is the decriminalization of certain narcotic or psychotropic drugs as objects of crime, such as nor from the table provided for by article 479 of the General Health Law, but only from the aforementioned normative portion of article 478 and only with respect to the narcotic cannabis sativa.

In this way, prosecutors and judges must analyze in each case whether the possession of marijuana is for personal use or not; They must weigh the extreme seriousness of the effects on the rights of health and personal integrity, privacy and free development of the personality.

The Court considered that its resolution will allow to strengthen the answer that was previously had on the legality of the possession of cannabis sativa when it is for personal use or consumption, which implies that the Public Ministry does not exercise criminal action in said case.

The United Mexico Against Crime (MUCD) organization said that “it is contradictory that despite the fact that the project has all the arguments to end this crime, the Court chooses to perpetuate the criminalization of consumers.”

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