Mexico’s Supreme Court Rules Cannabis Edibles for Personal Use Are Not Sanctioned

Mexico City — Mexico’s Supreme Court has ruled that authorization for the recreational self-consumption of cannabis may include preparing the plant or THC in prepared and semi-prepared foods, provided those products are strictly for the holder’s personal use.

The full court, or pleno, resolved the case on Thursday, September 10, in a review of an authorization request filed with the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris) for activities tied to the recreational self-consumption of cannabis and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

The ruling followed Cofepris’s failure to respond to the applicant, who filed a complaint over non-compliance with Declaration of General Unconstitutionality 1/2018, through which the court struck down the absolute ban on recreational marijuana use contained in Mexico’s General Health Law.

A district court had ordered Cofepris to issue the authorization, but the agency attached restrictions on preparing cannabis in a range of products, including prepared and semi-prepared foods.

What the Court Decided

Reviewing the case, the Supreme Court found that preparing cannabis or THC in food for personal consumption amounts to ordinary cooking and does not constitute manufacturing products subject to a specialized sanitary regime.

The pleno therefore revoked the agreement that had treated the earlier sentence as fulfilled and instructed Cofepris to issue an authorization allowing cannabis to be prepared in prepared or semi-prepared foods intended exclusively for the holder’s own consumption.

The decision does not mean a person may produce cannabis-infused foods to sell or hand out freely.

Can Cannabis Brownies Be Sold?

No. Under the ruling, the authorization is limited to personal consumption and does not permit the commercialization, distribution, supply to third parties or sale to the public of these foods. The court upheld other Cofepris restrictions on preparing cannabis in products that fall under specialized sanitary controls, such as medicines, herbal remedies, medical devices, food supplements and cosmetics.

Restrictions on vaping devices and similar products also remain in place.