In a landmark ruling a judge in Mexico has legalized cocaine — but only for two users.
The order by the judge to the country’s health authority has raised the possibility that Mexico could, at some point, legalize cocaine use, but only on a case-by-case basis.
The ruling still needs to pass a higher court, but a lower court official has ruled that two claimants should be allowed to “possess, transport and use cocaine,” the BBC reports. The pair, who haven’t been identified, would not be allowed to sell the drug, advocacy group Mexico United Against Crime (MUCD) said.
A court in Mexico City ordered that COFEPRIS, the health authority, must allow the claimants to use cocaine in a recreational capacity. COFEPRIS, has not yet moved on the case, AFP reports, and is trying to get the judge’s decision thrown out, saying that it is not designed to handle such cases.
According to Al Jazeera, an MUCD statement hailed the ruling as “another step in the fight to construct alternative drug policies that allow [Mexico] to redirect its security efforts and better address public health.”
“We have spent years working for a more secure, just and peaceful Mexico. This case is about insisting on the need to stop criminalising … drug users and designing better public policies that explore all the available options.”
The step is not the first on Mexico’s tentative path to selective legalization; Al Jazeera reports that Mexico’s Supreme Court has previously allowed recreational use of cannabis on a case-by-case basis.
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