Mexican president signs medical marijuana legalization decree

Mexican President Pena Nieto made it official this week: His nation is the latest to legalize cannabis for medical purposes.

Many of the details of the country’s MMJ program are still unclear, and it seems that only low-THC marijuana will be permitted, which could mean the black market and Mexican cartels would still profit from providing stronger cannabis.

But still, it’s a significant development in that the United States is now literally sandwiched between two countries whose federal governments have formally recognized that marijuana has medical value.

The new Mexican law was approved overwhelmingly by the Senate and Lower House of Congress, The Washington Post reported, and the next step is for the Ministry of Health to craft regulations on how the program will operate and how patients will obtain MMJ.

Critics of the law say it doesn’t go nearly far enough, and even former Mexican President Vicente Fox called for full legalization at a cannabis business conference in Oakland, California, earlier this month.

Fox even suggested that marijuana should be included in trade agreements such as NAFTA to allow MJ growers and retailers to engage in regulated international commerce.