Medical cannabis legalization blocked in Mexico

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Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, after saying in April he’s open to legalizing cannabis for medical uses, effectively stood by without comment while his own party forestalled a vote on a legalization bill.

The Mexican Senate postponed indefinitely any hearing on the legalization legislation.

“It looks like (Peña Nieto) never really wanted it,” drug policy expert Lisa Sanchez told Vice News.

She noted the president’s Institutional Revolutionary Party scuttled the MMJ reforms. “It’s either that, or the PRI now considers that (Peña Nieto) is a liability and his opinion is worth nothing from now until the next presidential elections in 2018,” Sanchez told Vice.

In fact, Peña Nieto originally was opposed to cannabis reform, raising questions about his recent full-throated calls for MMJ legalization and the general loosening of cannabis laws in Mexico.

That was followed by his recent silence when his party effectively killed the legislation.

The bottom line: Medical marijuana won’t be made legal in Mexico any time soon.