I am writing this article now, and a month later the Mexican Senate actually ignored (yes, ignored) the social and commercial task of regulating recreational and industrial hemp. Yes, it took me almost a whole month to calm myself enough that I wrote a post that didn’t sound like just a rant. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very clear that, according to the Supreme Court’s authorization, Congress’s only obligation is to regulate the cultivation and consumption of cannabis for personal use, but for a long time, members of Congress have publicly stated that they will try to establish a framework to establish a cannabis industry. . More importantly, as I said publicly before, through these opaque, last-minute decisions, the country has created instability for domestic and foreign merchants and all areas of the economy, not just those involving marijuana. people.

At the time of writing, I am not sure when the Cannabis Act will be discussed again. Some people say that “there is still political will to legalize marijuana.” The reality tells me otherwise. Even though, as I have heard so far, the Marijuana Act will simply be postponed to the next legislative period, if the almost unabashed contempt for the April 30 deadline has taught me anything, it is our interests as an industry Stakeholders must push the government to do the right thing for the benefit of the ultimate consumer and the entire Mexican economy.

In other words, none of the above changes the fact that what happened in April last year was the spill of milk under the bridge. The real question now is, what should we do? To answer this question, let us review the current legal situation and how you and your business can make the most of it.

General statement that marijuana is unconstitutional?

If you ask me—or anyone in the industry—it’s obvious that the Mexican senator just decided In fact Put the marijuana law bill in the freezer for fear that voting on what is considered highly controversial might cost them the most important intermediate election in Mexico’s recent history. Let me repeat, Congress has never restrained the entire industry. The politicians expressed their willingness to do so. The problem is, now that Congress has failed to regulate the self-cultivation and self-consumption of marijuana due to the failure to pass the Cannabis Act, which includes a bill for adult use.

In this case, we are faced with three possible situations: First, Congress may request the Supreme Court to extend the deadline again (very unlikely: this should be officially proposed, and I have never heard of such a request by the Senate). Second, in view of the failure of Congress to regulate the self-consumption of cannabis, the Supreme Court may decide to issue a general unconstitutional statement to remove from the Mexican legal system regulations that prohibit the cultivation and consumption of cannabis by individuals.Found unconstitutional by the court Jurisprudence (Binding court precedents). In order for the above to happen, at least eight Supreme Court justices must support. The third situation is when the Supreme Court meets, but it does not reach the majority required to issue general unconstitutional declarations.In this case, it will continue to operate as usual: consumers will have to continue to apply for self-cultivation/self-consumption licenses and file with COFEPRIS protection Action taken without response or rejection.

In fact, although the main benefit of the General Unconstitutional Declaration is that by removing the prohibition clause, consumers no longer need to submit protection The real problem with the action to exercise the right to consume cannabis is to delete the legal gap left by these clauses and the legal uncertainty that this will bring to consumers and cannabis companies. In other words, if there are no regulations to regulate the cultivation and consumption of cannabis for personal use after the “General Unconstitutional Declaration” is issued, how do people know what is legal and what is illegal? This is a task that Congress must prove to establish a legal Mexican cannabis industry-if the Supreme Court decides for any reason that it is inappropriate to issue a general unconstitutional declaration at this time.

Talking about business: what are you were able do it now

How can companies make the most of the current Mexican cannabis landscape?How they power Create an industry in a context where the political class seems unwilling to do so? To answer these questions, let us re-examine what we can do under the current legal framework.

1.- Medical marijuana is still the only fully legal in Mexico (that is, not only stipulated in general regulations, but also with implementing regulations): as we reported Here, “Medical Regulations” related to the control, promotion and health supervision of raw materials, pharmacological derivatives and drugs, standardizing production and supply of primary production and other activities; production of raw materials for research and seed production; health and pharmacological research; pharmacological derivatives and drugs Manufacturing; medical activities related to diagnosis, therapeutic care, rehabilitation and palliative care, and; import, export and marketing of medical cannabis products. Individuals and companies can carry out all these activities through relevant licenses or permits.

The medical regulations themselves stipulate that existing institutions issue implementation guidelines. This has not happened so far.Although as we mentioned Here, This is not only legally possible, but you have the right to any Among the activities where the existing institutions are not allowed to issue the guidelines for the grace period, so far we believe that the most feasible is to apply for a) health registration authorization (Health Register) For special drugs (Special medicine: Products that can be mass-produced according to the specifications contained in the above authorization); b) Hygiene license that allows you to sell composite products (Master formula: Prepared medicine Former professor According to the instructions specified in the medical prescription, the doctor provides the patient); c) Prescription manual: Qualified surgeons, veterinarians and dentists can apply for special prescription manuals that enable them to prescribe cannabis medical products, and; d) Research Agreement: A document containing a research proposal involving cannabis for obtaining pharmacological derivatives for pharmaceuticals. In the latter case, the tricky part is of course to find a reputable individual or institution that has the scientific expertise needed to help your company draft the agreement, but they are there.

Finally, it’s worth noting that cannabis supplements are unlikely to be considered drugs (drug) Is provided by COFEPRIS, so companies are unlikely to obtain the health registration authorization required to import and sell in Mexico. Considering the number of times we have been exposed to the idea of ??importing and/or selling these products in Mexico, I can’t insist on it enough.

2.- You can also apply for a cannabis cultivation/consumption license for personal use through COFEPRIS protection Action: Why do I say “through a protection Action”? Because, according to our experience, COFEPRIS usually either does not answer your application or simply refuses it. Simply put, by submitting a copy protection In the lawsuit, you argued in the Federal Court that the Supreme Court has declared that the prohibition of personal use is unconstitutional because it violates your right to the free development of your personality (Right to Free Development of Personality, Or your inherent right to find the best way to achieve the best version of yourself and achieve happiness thereafter, thereby rejecting any external interference with your decision on these “best ways”). This right has been ruled by the Supreme Court as a human right contained in the Constitution. Therefore, COFEPRIS’s failure to issue a cannabis cultivation/consumption license for personal use violates your constitutional rights.

3.- You can apply for a cannabis license.As i reported HereIn 2017, the General Sanitation Law was amended to stipulate that any product that contains hemp derivatives with a THC concentration of not more than 1% and has sufficient industrial use can be sold, exported and imported in accordance with the requirements of the applicable sanitation law. “. Regulations. “These regulations should come in the form of a marijuana law (yes, it was the delay of the bill that prompted me to write this article). Therefore, marijuana as an industry is still legal but not regulated in Mexico, which in turn This means that activities related to cannabis (commodity sales, import and export, but we have increased production and processing) are legal in Mexico-even if there is no cannabis regulation, there is no application for a specific license for such activities. We still recommend that our customers apply to COFEPRIS for general authorization to carry out these activities, just for safety reasons, and are prepared to put pressure on the authorities by pursuing protection Action taken in federal court.

In short, what is the moral of the story about the current state of cannabis in Mexico?What we reported Last December: If possible, start with medical marijuana. When everything else is legal, you will have the infrastructure, market insight, and business acumen, but if this is beyond your possibility or does not fit your business strategy at all, then there is always more work to do.In other words, how should companies prepare do something? continue reading!

Life goes on-what are you doing should do it now

1.- Set up your company in Mexico and register your trademark as soon as possible. This may seem simple, but please consider that we are all living in the COVID era, most government agencies are understaffed and underfunded, all of which greatly extend their response time. For international cannabis companies, the time required to translate and legalize any documents should also be considered. Since cannabis permits/licenses are not transferable, a cannabis company must be established and operated before considering an application.

2.- Draft a damn business plan. Yes, I know this sounds like a cliché, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve dealt with actual or potential customers who “just want to do something with marijuana now because marijuana is going to be legalized”. Hire a cannabis business consultant and work with your legal counsel to draft a plan based on 1) the actual legal content in Mexico and 2) your actual resources and capabilities.

3.- Consider marijuana, I mean more than supplements, food, etc. (In any case, marijuana was illegal before the passage of the Marijuana Act-thanks again to Congress).Think of a practical manufacturing Industry: Unlike medical or adult cannabis use industries, industrial cannabis is less politicized, easier to establish and insert into Mexico’s existing value chain, and has regional influence, such as the textile or automobile industries.

Don’t forget that the lack of supervision may be a blessing in disguise (trust me: as I said at the beginning of this article, it took me almost a month to calm down and write this article) if we know how to make it work for us. No regulation means lower application costs, because the requirements to be met are the lowest compared to more regulated industries (such as medical marijuana). In addition, the absence of regulation means that there is no cap on foreign investment. So what are you waiting for? Start your cannabis business now!