Is Cannabis Legal in Mexico?

(Spoiler: not really)

I recently saw a YouTube video with this (paraphrased) title: "Marijuana is 100% Legal in Mexico!!". I know what the creator of this video was getting at (beyond the horribly mis-leading click-bait nature of the title) - namely, that the Supreme Court of Mexico decriminalized the recreational use of cannabis in June of 2021. But decriminalization is not the same as legalization, and the legal status of cannabis in Mexico is complicated. Perhaps the 20-some minute video with the misleading title clarified this - I stopped watching after about a minute. But, the title alone could have led people to believe that they could now safely fly into Cancun with bags of pot in their suitcase.

They can't. Please don't fly into Cancun with bags of pot in your suitcase, unless you are comfortable with the idea of spending some quality time in a Mexican jail.

Some Background

In 2018, the Supreme Court of Mexico declared that the prohibition of cannabis was unconstitutional, as it interfered with some constitutionally guaranteed human rights (kudos to the Supreme Court of Mexico for actually caring about human rights - maybe other nation's courts might one day do the same). A side effect of this ruling was that the Congress of Mexico was required to enact laws legalizing the use of cannabis within 90 days of that 2018 ruling. The Congress of Mexico failed to do that, and they have been given extensions ever since.

There are many more historical details, but the upshot is that the Supreme Court became frustrated with Congress' lack of action, and issued that decriminalization edict in 2021. Technically, it is no longer a criminal act to possess up to 5 grams of marijuana.

The Reality Today

As of this writing (Jan 22, 2023), no Mexican laws exist that legalize the possession or use of marijuana for recreational purposes. In some areas in Mexico, cannabis can be purchased for medical purposes, but you need a doctor's prescription to do this.

And while marijuana has been decriminalized, many jurisdictions in Mexico don't recognize that decriminalization and continue to arrest and punish people who are caught with marijuana. And entering Mexico from a foreign country with any amount of cannabis is illegal and punishable everywhere in Mexico.

The title of that YouTube video could have been - and probably should have been - "Marijuana is 100% Not Legal in Mexico!!".

There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that bringing cannabis into Mexico - or purchasing it in Mexico - is no big deal. I have some of that anecdotal evidence myself: I've personally witnessed customs agents catching people 1 with cannabis in their luggage and issuing a "fine" (bribe) for allowing it to pass. These incidents occurred post the Supreme Court of Mexico ruling.

But there is also anecdotal evidence of people being arrested bringing cannabis into Mexico. The truth is, as of right now, you cannot live a free-wheeling cannabis imbibing lifestyle in Mexico legally. Plenty of people manage to do this, but my advice is that unless you are willing to pay bribes and/or spend time in the custody of Mexican law enforcement, you might want to leave your weed at home.

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1. If you've never been through customs in Mexico, custom agents pulling people aside for manual bag searches is completely randomized. When you get to the customs station, everyone presses a button that is attached to a light fixture with a green and a red light. Pressing the button randomly causes either the green or the red light to illuminate. If the green one illuminates, you just go through (your bags may go through an X-ray machine regardless of what color illuminates); if the red one illuminates, you get pulled over for a manual search. It doesn't matter if you are 10 years old or 90 - your bags will be searched if the red light illuminates. So don't think you can get by simply by appearing "honest" or "wholesome" or because you are traveling as a family. Your bags being searched is a function of chance. ↩︎