Former president Fox expects Mexico to pass landmark cannabis bill next week

Medical Marijuana

06/03/2021 02:54

By Diego Oré
    MEXICO CITY, March 5 (Reuters) - Former Mexican President
Vicente Fox said on Friday he expected Congress to pass its new
law to legalize cannabis next week, a move that would
effectively create one of the world's largest weed markets.
    The bill, backed by the administration of President Andres
Manuel Lopez Obrador, would mark a major shift in a country
bedeviled for years by violence between feuding drug cartels. 
    Fox, a director at Colombian-Canadian Khiron Life Sciences
 KHRN.V  which focuses on cannabis for medical use, has been a
long-standing advocate for the decriminalization of marijuana in
Mexico.
    "We're receiving direct information from the lawmakers," he
told Reuters. "It's information that is quite trustworthy and
solid, and next week this should be approved."
    A source in the lower house told Reuters the bill would be
discussed on Monday. It was due to be approved in December but
was delayed.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2IV1P6
    The bill, which easily passed the Senate in a vote in
November, would create a huge new legal market for marijuana
which companies like Khiron Life Sciences are eager to
tap. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2GE6JM
    Canada's Canopy Growth  WEED.TO  and The Green Organic
Dutchman  TGOD.TO  as well as Medical Marijuana  MJNA.PK  from
California are among other firms eyeing Mexico.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2GE6JM
    Grand View Research said in a recent study the global legal
market for the plant could be worth $73.6 billion by 2027.
    Lopez Obrador has argued that decriminalizing cannabis and
other narcotics could help combat Mexico's powerful drug
cartels.
    Fox said he wants to create a marijuana greenhouse and a
laboratory where the plant will be studied at his Fox Center in
Mexico.
    "I'm convinced legalization of marijuana is the first step
towards the legalization of all prohibited products," he said. 

 (Writing by Diego Ore; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
 ((Diego.Ore@thomsonreuters.com;))