Key Mexican Senate committees on Wednesday approved a bill to legalize marijuana nationwide—and a full floor is expected soon.

The joint panels gave initial consent to advance the legislation during a virtual hearing on Friday, and have now reconvened in person to formally push it to a floor vote.

The bill, which was circulated in draft form earlier this month and has since been further amended, would establish a regulated cannabis market in Mexico, allowing adults 18 and older to purchase and possess up to 28 grams of marijuana and cultivate up to four plants for personal use.

Most of the amendments that have been added since the prior virtual hearing are technical in nature. However, there was a notable revision to make it so people who grow cannabis for personal use will not be subject to a requirement to have regulators track plants.

Members of the Senate’s Justice, Health, and Legislative Studies Committees approved the proposal, months after passing an earlier version. A full vote in the chamber could come as soon as Thursday.

🔴 Reunión de las comisiones unidas de Justicia, de Salud y de Estudios Legislativos Segunda, del 18 de noviembre de 2020 https://t.co/DNjlLnQe3k

— Senado de México (@senadomexicano) November 18, 2020

While advocates have celebrated the development, they are still seeking certain changes to promote consumers’ rights and social equity in the legal market.

El dictamen actual amenaza con mantener la criminalización de las personas usuarias y las poblaciones más vulnerables, mientras habilita un mercado del que se beneficiarán, principalmente, actores privados y extranjeros.

— México Unido (@MUCD) November 18, 2020

Desde @MUCD reiteramos nuestro llamado al @senadomexicano de no perder la oportunidad histórica de corregir los males de la prohibición y regular bien.

Necesitamos #CannabisLegalConJusticiaSocial.

— México Unido (@MUCD) November 18, 2020

Lawmakers have been working on the reform legislation for two years since the nation’s Supreme Court ruled in late 2018 that the prohibition on possessing and growing cannabis is unconstitutional. The court ordered Congress to amend the law accordingly, but the legislature has struggled to reach consensus on the issue and has been granted several deadline extensions to enact the policy change.

The current deadline to legalize marijuana is December 15.

Senate President Eduardo Ramírez said last week that there is a “consensus” to achieve the reform by the court-mandated date.

Reform advocates have been consistently pushing for legislative action on reform since the court ruling, though they’ve taken issue with certain provisions of lawmakers’ various proposals. Namely, they remain concerned about high penalties that can be imposed for violating the cannabis rules and feel the bill should further promote social equity in the industry.

Those requested changes do not seem to have been incorporated into the latest amended bill that the committees approved, but there’s still time to make revisions on the floor and in the Chamber of Deputies, which must also pass the legislation in order for it to become law.

Ricardo Monreal, the ruling MORENA party’s coordinator in the Senate, said last week that the proposal is a significant improvement on current laws against possession, which have “only caused the detention centers to be full of people for possession of a few grams of cannabis, which is why they seek to reduce the penalties in carrying of this product.”

In a column published on the senator’s website on Sunday, he said the “intensity, duration and complexity of the discussion reflects the desire to achieve the pacification of a country that for years has been a victim of violence caused by drug trafficking, as well as the will to respect the right to free development of the personality, at the same time that favorable conditions are generated to expand national economic development,” according to a translation.

Con la aprobación en comisiones del @senadomexicano del dictamen a la Ley Federal para la Regulación de Cannabis, podremos cumplirle a México en materia de salud, derechos humanos y combate a la delincuencia organizada. Mi columna, vía @El_Universal_Mx: https://t.co/e9dDgUF2ms

— Ricardo Monreal A. (@RicardoMonrealA) November 16, 2020

Lawmakers have “the historic opportunity to regulate the use of cannabis within the Mexican regulatory framework, to allow better control of the health of users, the emancipation of organized crime activities and the use of its wide benefits for society,” he said, adding “this is a momentous moment in the public life of the country.”

Sen. Nancy Sánchez Arredondo, also of the MORENA party, said that the process “has been a long road, whose merit goes to countless civil organizations and public and private institutions that struggled to give a complete turn to the prohibition in the use of cannabis.”

According to La Jornada, there’s some fragmentation within the ruling party over the legislation. However, advocates expect that members—despite certain differences over social justice components—will ultimately approve it. The Institutional Revolutionary, Citizens’ Movement and Democratic Revolution parties will also reportedly back the measure.

La bancada de Morena en el Senado no tiene un voto uniforme para la regulación de la cannabis y su consumo lúdico #RegístrateGratis https://t.co/zmL1c4NlzG

— REFORMA Nacional (@reformanacional) November 17, 2020

The legislation makes some attempts to mitigate the influence of large marijuana corporations. For example, it states that for the first five years after implementation, at least 40 percent of cannabis business licenses must be granted to those from indigenous, low-income or historically marginalized communities.

The Mexican Institute of Cannabis would be responsible for regulating the market and issuing licenses.

Public consumption of marijuana would be allowed, except in places where tobacco use is prohibited or at mass gatherings where people under 18 could be exposed.

Households where more than one adult lives would be limited to cultivating a maximum of six plants. The legislation also says people “should not” consume cannabis in homes where there are underaged individuals. Possession of more than 28 grams but fewer than 200 grams would be considered an infraction punishable by a fine but no jail time.

Monreal originally said the chamber would vote on the legalization bill by the end of October, that timeline did not work out.

In his latest column, he remarked that the delay enabled the legislature to take into consideration marijuana reforms “in Uruguay, Canada and the United States,” which “serve as examples of the probable consequences that must be foresee and solve in the Mexican case, while observing the benefits that the regulated use of this plant and its derivatives has generated in those nations.”

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said in August that marijuana reform legislation will advance in the session that began in September.

Sen. Julio Ramón Menchaca Salazar, also of the MORENA party, said in April that legalizing cannabis could fill treasury coffers at a time when the economy is recovering from the pandemic.

As lawmakers work to advance the reform legislation, there’s been a more lighthearted push to focus attention on the issue by certain members and activists. That push has mostly involved planting and gifting marijuana.

In September, a top administration official was gifted a cannabis plant by senator on the Senate floor, and she said she’d be making it a part of her personal garden.

A different lawmaker gave the same official, Interior Ministry Secretary Olga Sánchez Cordero, a marijuana joint on the floor of the Chamber of Deputies last year.

Cannabis made another appearance in the legislature in August, when Sen. Jesusa Rodríguez of the MORENA party decorated her desk with a marijuana plant.

Drug policy reform advocates have also been cultivating hundreds of marijuana plants in front of the Senate, putting pressure on legislators to make good on their pledge to advance legalization.

See a list of changes to the Mexican Senate marijuana legalization bill below:

Mexican Senate Marijuana Legalization Amendments by Marijuana Moment on Scribd

Marijuana Legalization Got More Votes Than Trump, Biden And Other Officials In Multiple States

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A task force convened by North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) is recommending that the state decriminalize marijuana possession and initiate a study on whether to more broadly legalize cannabis sales.

“You cannot talk about improving racial equity in our criminal justice system without talking about marijuana,” Attorney General Josh Stein (D), who co-chairs the Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice, said on Wednesday. “White and Black North Carolinians use marijuana at similar rates, yet Black people are disproportionately arrested and sentenced.”

He added that it “is time for North Carolina to start having real conversations about a safe, measured, public health approach to potentially legalizing marijuana.”

I am. We must stop saddling people with criminal records for low-level possession of marijuana. White & Black Americans smoke at the same rates; yet African-Americans are much more likely to be arrested & convicted. Possession should be an infraction, like a speeding ticket. https://t.co/UIPt1nuQuW

— Josh Stein (@JoshStein_) November 19, 2020

The task force’s recommendation is to decriminalize the possession of up to an ounce and a half of cannabis and make it a civil offense. Past convictions should automatically be expunged, the panel said.

The group also wants the state to convene another task force charged specifically with studying the “pros and cons and options for legalization of possession, cultivation and/or sale, including government or not for profit monopoly options.”

The review “should be guided by a public safety, public health, and racial equity framework,” it said.

In the meantime, arrests for marijuana possession and felony drug possession for less than .25 grams of illegal substances should be deprioritized, and prosecutors should also deprioritize cannabis-related prosecutions, the group recommends.

“Data made available to the Task Force shows that 63 percent of the more than 10,000 convictions for simple possession of marijuana last year in North Carolina are people of color even though they are only 30 percent of the population and research documents that marijuana use is at roughly equal percentages among Black and white populations,” state Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls, who also co-chairs the panel, said. “This recommendation is intended to help alleviate racial disparities in North Carolina’s criminal justice system.”

Other members of the task force include the mayor of Fayetteville, the chiefs of police in Durham and Apex, the sheriffs of Richmond and Brunswick Counties and officials with ACLU and NAACP.

The panel is additionally pushing for improved drug enforcement data collection, including by tracking race and gender of arrestees.

Under current state law, possession of up to half an ounce of marijuana is a class 3 misdemeanor, which comes with a fine of up to $200. There were 31,287 such charges and 8,520 convictions in 2019, the task force said, and 61 percent of those convicted were nonwhite.

Possessing more than half an ounce up to 1.5 ounces of cannabis is a class 1 misdemeanor, subject to up to 45 days imprisonment and a $200 fine. In 2019, there were 3,422 such charges and 1,909 convictions, with 70 percent of those convicted being nonwhite.

The task force will issue a formal report on its recommendation to the governor on December 15.

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The 2020 election showed yet again that marijuana legalization has widespread, bipartisan appeal. And the mainstream nature of the issue is demonstrated clearly when comparing the support that cannabis reform got at the ballot box this month to that brought in by major candidates for president, Senate and other offices.

In a year that saw the highest level of voter turnout in American history—in no small part due to the heated presidential race where the incumbent was ousted—cannabis legalization ballot measures were approved in red and blue states, proving to be more popular than many candidates seeking to represent those jurisdictions.

In most cases, candidates who were outperformed by marijuana at the polls declined to endorse the reform ahead of the election—perhaps something that politicians in states where cannabis is on the ballot in 2022 will take note of.

Here’s a breakdown of what the election showed about the popularity of drug policy reform in 2020:

Arizona

In Arizona, an adult-use marijuana legalization proposal passed by a sizable margin, with 1,951,877 total votes—just four years after a similar measure failed in the state 2016.

This time, cannabis beat out both President Trump (1,657,250) and President-elect Joe Biden (1,668,684). Biden has so far refused to join the supermajority of Democrats who back marijuana legalization and instead supports more modest reforms such as decriminalizing possession and expunging records. Trump, for his part, has said that states should be able to set their own cannabis laws without federal interference but has not strongly backed any specific reforms.

The Arizona marijuana vote total also exceeded that of Democratic Senator-elect Mark Kelly (1,712,777) and incumbent GOP Sen. Martha McSally (1,637,651). Kelly said when pressed ahead of the election that he was inclined to support legalization, though he did not actively campaign on it. McSally pivoted away from questions about the issue by saying it was up to voters to decide.

The measure also won more voters than a separate initiative to increase income taxes to fund education (1,672,212).

Mississippi

More voters in conservative Mississippi voted to enact a medical cannabis program (774,386) than elected to put Trump (747,398) or Biden (520,937) in the Oval Office.

Legalizing medical marijuana was also more popular than Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (700,501) and her Democratic challenger Mike Espy (559,508).

That’s according to an Associated Press tally, which shows the current estimated total at 99 percent of expected votes processed.

Montana

A voter-approved measure to legalize marijuana in Montana received more votes (341,031) than Biden (244,783).

It also outperformed Republican Governor-elect Greg Gianforte (328,543) and his Democratic opponent Mike Cooney (250,855).

GOP Sen. Steve Daines also got fewer votes than legal cannabis (333,163), as did his challenger, outgoing Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock (272,457).

Republican Representative-elect Matt Rosendale (339,165) and Democratic House candidate Pat Williams (262,336) also pulled in less support than the marijuana reform did in their race for the state’s only congressional district.

None of those candidates endorsed the cannabis legalization measure that ended up getting more votes than they did.

The legal marijuana initiative also passed more handily than a separate ballot measure to remove localities’ ability to regulate concealed carry of permitted firearms (298,347).

Trump got slightly more votes than cannabis legalization did, at 343,597.

New Jersey

In New Jersey, a referendum to legalize cannabis for adult use was overwhelmingly approved with 2,637,630 votes.

That exceeds the votes for Biden (2,509,428 ) and Trump (1,817,925).

Democratic Sen. Cory Booker (2,433,494), who campaigned for the reform measure, and his Republican challenger Rikin Mehta (1,756,206) also got fewer votes than legal marijuana did.

Those tallies are based on a projection from the Associated Press, which is reporting 95.9 percent of the expected vote as of Wednesday.

South Dakota

South Dakota voters passed measures to legalize marijuana for both medical (291,754) and recreational (225,260) purposes.

Both initiatives received more votes than Biden (150,471), Democratic Senate candidate Daniel Ahlers (143,987) and Libertarian House candidate Randy Luallin (75,748).

Additionally, the medical cannabis proposal got more votes than Trump (261,043), GOP Sen. Mike Rounds (276,232) and a proposal to legalize sports betting (239,620).

Oregon

Marijuana wasn’t the only drug policy issue on the ballot on Election Day.

Oregon voters made history by approving separate measures to decriminalize possession of all currently illicit drugs (1,322,078) and legalize psilocybin mushrooms for therapeutic purposes (1,259,243).

The drug decriminalization initiative landed more votes than incumbent Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley did (1,310,753).

Both drug reform measures received more votes than Democratic Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum (939,161) and her Republican opponent Michael Cross (926,339).

They also both beat out Trump’s tally (949,572) and that of Republican Senate candidate Jo Rae Perkins (904,689).

Only Biden gained more votes than either of the drug policy reform proposals, though fairly narrowly, at 1,329,549.

Washington, D.C.

A proposal to decriminalize a wide range of psychedelics like psilocybin and ayahuasca was approved in D.C., for example. And that one got 195,773 votes, which is far more than Trump did (16,306) in the heavily Democratic city.

Biden and Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) beat out the vote count for the psychedelics reform measure, however, with 285,728 and 255,060 votes, respectively.

All told, the results in each jurisdiction show that marijuana and drug policy reform is very popular with voters, in many cases much more so than individual politicians are.

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