2. Mexico in Brief
UNITED MEXICO STATES
ESTADOS UNIDOS MEXICANOS
CAPITAL (largest city): Mexico city
Official language: None at Federal Level
National Language: Spanish
Religion: Mainly 83% Roman Catholicism
Currency: Peso (MXN)
Population: Approximately over 120 Million
3. Mexico:
Southern part of North America.
Third largest country in Latin America.
LOCATION
Borders:
United States (Northern Part).
Pacific Ocean (West and South Part).
Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea (Eastern Part)
Guatemala and Belize ( Southeastern Part)
4. Government and Society
Mexico is a federal republic composed of
31 states and the Federal District.
Government powers:
• Executive
• Legislative
• Judicial
Legislative branch:
• Upper House The Senate
• Lower House The Chamber of Deputies
5. President of Mexico
Enrique Peña Nieto:
Since December 1, 2012
Term Length six years
Head of State and Government
Supreme Commander of the Mexican armed
Forces
Party: Institutional Revolutionary Party
6. Overview of Drug Policy in Mexico
One of the Latin American countries has born the highest costs
from the war on Drugs.
Causes high rates of violence, corruption in state institutions.
Increases power of organized crime.
Implementation of prohibitionist drug laws imprisoned number
of people for minor drug offences.
7. FEDERAL CRIMINAL CODE
Federal Criminal Code (Código Penal Federal ):
Drug legislation is reformed in General Health Act in
1994.
Sentences were increase to between 10 and 25 years for
the production, transportation, trafficking, sale and
supply of drugs.
Sentences were reduced for planting cultivating and
harvesting drug crops for the purpose of consumption.
(See Article 193)
Federal Law Against Organized Crime:
Approved in 1996 and established the notion of “
preventative detention”
Allows for detention of up to 80 days without any arrest
warrant or charge
8. What are the current drug laws in Mexico?
his law for small-scale selling of drugs reformed Article 478 of the General Health
Act and was adopted by parliament in April 2009 and implemented on 21 August
the same year
It eliminated all penalties for personal drug consumption up to the following
amounts:
5g of marijuana, 2g of opium, 500mg of cocaine, 50mg of heroin or 40mg of
methamphetamines.
It also stipulated that addicts can only be subjected to obligatory treatment after their third
arrest for a drug-related crime, and increased the sentences for a range of crimes, including
sale of drugs to minors or selling near schools.
9. Impacts of drug laws for
the prison situation
Mexico’s drug legislation has created two major
trends:
Increased prison population
Criminalization of consumers and small-scale
vendors
The majority of those jailed on drug-related charges
come from poor and marginalized segments of
society and on education.
10. Over the last decade, there has been an increase in the
number of female inmates, with drug-related crimes the
primary reasons
Forty-eight per cent of women in prison are
incarcerated on drug related-charges
43 per cent of indigenous women in jail are there for the
same crime
The chart extracted from the study “Disproportionality
and crimes against health in Mexico”
Impacts of drug laws for the prison situation
11. Is there
compulsory
treatment for
dependent
drug users?
In Mexico, Carrying very small amounts of
drug for personal use is decriminalized,
•If a person is caught more than twice with the
permitted amount, they can be sent into compulsory
rehabilitation programmes
In Mexico, drug court only exists in “ state
of Nuevo León” called “courts for the
treatment of addictions”
People who are arrested for the first time
for committing a crime under the
influence of drugs or alcohol can
participate in this programme
If the person agrees to be referred for
treatment, their trial is suspended.
12. Mexico positions in
the international
debate in drug policy
Mexico
pushed an
initiative
known as the
“UNGASS of
1998” in 1993
Its objective was to
hold an international
conference within
the framework of
the United Nations
to discuss aspects of
global policies on
drugs.
Mexican
government
sends a
letter concerning
control of drugs
to the Secretary
General of the
UN.
there needs to be
great emphasis on
the demand side,
because “drug
consumption is
the driving force
that generates
drug production
and trafficking”
It also strongly
criticizes US anti-
drug operations
on Mexican
territory and the
US government’s
unilateral
certification
mechanism
It attacks “attempts
to impose
hegemony” and calls
for a “balanced
approach to be
taken seriously”
13. What role has civil society played in
the debate on drugs?
Mexico has suffered such a bloody war on drugs that there are numerous voices in civil society
advocating policy changes
The caravan for peace led by Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, which travelled through the US asks President
Obama to take responsibility for the war against drugs unleashed in Mexico and to consider drug policy
reforms
“The United States has caused us a great deal of harm,” said the poet.
In February 2014, four Latin American former presidents:
Ernesto Zedillo (Mexico), Ricardo Lagos (Chile), Fernando Henrique Cardoso (Brazil) and César Gaviria
(Colombia)
gave their support to the proposed regulation of cannabis in Mexico City. Major human rights
NGOs also backed the project
