Mexico Goes Legal
Mexico- The Mexican Senate recently passed a bill containing a draft federal law for the regulation of all
marijuana. The bill includes amendments to the General Health Law and the Federal Criminal Code and is amended by a helpful Annex. The Cannabis Law is being sent to the Mexican Lower Chamber (Cámara de Diputados) for discussion and hopefully, approval. Amendments to Mexico’s General Health Law and Federal Criminal Code allowed for the following:
marijuana. The bill includes amendments to the General Health Law and the Federal Criminal Code and is amended by a helpful Annex. The Cannabis Law is being sent to the Mexican Lower Chamber (Cámara de Diputados) for discussion and hopefully, approval. Amendments to Mexico’s General Health Law and Federal Criminal Code allowed for the following:
1. Limited cannabis use and consumption for qualified patients.
2. Possession of cannabis for undertaking medical research.
3. The import and export of medical cannabis products.
In 2018, Mexico’s Supreme Court declared Mexico’s general prohibition against adult use cannabis unconstitutional and required Mexico’s Ministry of Health, COFEPRIS (Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks), and various other Mexican governmental agencies issue regulations establishing a commercial cannabis chain for cannabis distribution.
A Mexican Supreme Court ruling last year mandated the Ministry of Health publish regulations for medical cannabis use and make the 2017 amendments effective by September 2020. However, this has not happened yet. Mexico’s Cannabis Law that has just been recently approved by the Mexican Senate seeks to comply with the 2018 mandate and this new law is expected to go into effect by December 15th.
The Cannabis Law will regulate recreational and industrial (hemp) use in Mexico but it does not address medical cannabis use which is already legal and will be regulated by draft Medical Regulations which we expect will be published in the Federation Official Gazette at or around the same time as the Cannabis Law is approved, early December, 2020.
The United Nations and Global Cannabis Regulation
United Nations vote next week implicitly acknowledges the medical value of the drug.
During its reconvened session in December, the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) could, with a simple majority vote in an online meeting broadcasted from Vienna, accept a World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation to remove cannabis and cannabis resin from Schedule IV of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.
The CND’s adoption of the recommendation should prompt a domino effect of positive effects for the cannabis industry, justifying medical legalization efforts at national levels around the world and potentially positioning countries to broaden regulations. The vote was postponed in March 2020 to give CND member states time to “clarify the implications and consequences of, as well as the reasoning for, these recommendations.”
Between June and October, U.N.-member states had three, closed “topical meetings” followed by an “intersessional meeting” to allow participants to exchange perspectives.
Germany Talking Imports
medical cannabis oil to Germany for sale to the public. Australia joins Canada, and other nations, in supplying the German market with cannabis oil products.
Roughly 789 liters of cannabis oil was shipped to Germany from Canada last year, according to the Canadian government.
Little Green Pharma said the shipment contained cannabis oil worth more than 600,000 Australian dollars ($436,000). The oil was shipped to German medical distributor CC Pharma, a subsidiary of Canada’s Aphria. Little Green Pharma said it expects the product to clear customs soon, followed by batch testing, before being released for sale into the German market.Shipping medical marijuana to the European Union is complicated.
Little Green Pharma said it took 22 months to complete negotiations, quality inspections, audits and the procurement of German and Australian narcotic licenses and permits.
The process “reflects the high regulatory barriers to the export of medicinal cannabis products to the EU,” according to the company’s news release. Marijuana businesses have expended a considerable amount of time and money establishing a toehold in the promising German market. But so far the rewards have been few and far between, with most international companies recording marginal revenue in the growing, but crowded, market. The German market remains a distant second to Canada’s by expenditures – though that is expected to change in the coming years.
