Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

‘This is another revolution’: could legalisation of cannabis transform Mexico’s economy?

‘This is another revolution’: could legalisation of cannabis transform Mexico’s economy?

Despite frustrating legislative delays, farmers in Mexico are keen to start growing a crop that may be more profitable than rice, corn or sugar

The pungent aroma of cannabis and the sound of dub music fill the air at a hacienda as about 150 smokers, users, growers, activists and business people gather for Mexico’s second annual Toquefest.

In anticipation of the long-delayed legalisation of cannabis – after a number of supreme court decisions decreed the right to cultivate and deemed unconstitutional the ban on recreational use – the war on weed in Mexico is winding down and the festival is just one of 20 marijuana-related events being held across the country.

Cannabis growers feel increasingly confident in going public and some farmers are switching crops to la Santa Rosa: a gram of which can be sold for more than several kilos of black beans.

“This is another revolution,” says Isidro Cisneros, a grower from the town of Cuautlixco in the state of Morelos where the Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata was born. “It’s about land and freedom, and a plant that has been criminalised for years without good reason. Growing cannabis, peasants can live and eat well.”

Cisneros – who began growing cannabis in 2022 – is part of the campaign group Plan Tetecala, which has gained the support of the state human rights commission.

One of many growers selling their products late last year at Toquefest in Puebla, two hours south-east of Mexico City, Cisneros says: “Farmers must have the liberty to plant what they want, and not only when the government or corporations say they can,” he adds. “Since the revolution, no one has helped us: now is the moment for us to help ourselves.”

Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has indicated his support for legalisation as part of a wider push to dismantle prohibitionist policies but has been criticised for dragging his feet. Bills have been passed in both legislative chambers over the past two years but they have not agreed on the same version.

A legal market for cannabis in Mexico is estimated to be worth more than US$3bn a year.

Campaigners allege that opposition from the armed forces could be holding up legislative success. In November, hacked documents from the defence ministry revealed links between elected officials and drug cartels, and influence of the military over civilian institutions. Activists also point to the removal of equity clauses in the drafts as evidence of corporate influence that, in the US, has contributed to high taxes and bureaucracy that effectively exclude small farmers.

Despite senior government figures indicating regulation is a top priority the domestic industry is developing apace in a mostly tolerated grey market free from an influx of foreign capital that could arrive if legalisation is passed without safeguards.

Demonstrators in Mexico City calling for the legalisation of cannabis, which many producers see as an engine for economic growth.


Communities in Michoacán, Chiapas, Oaxaca and Guerrero, among others, have said they want a share of the pie – with many landless farmers known as campesinos still earning near subsistence wages growing rice, corn and sugar.

“Communities are coming out of clandestine markets to say ‘This is part of our economic development; it’s a way to provide a better future for our children,’” says Zara Snapp, the co-founder of drug policy reform thinktank Instituto RIA, who spoke at Toquefest.

“There are many more farmers who would like to switch crops to cannabis, though they are not yet ready to take that risk. But there’s still a legal vacuum, and folks are participating.”

More than 10 million people in Mexico are estimated to have used cannabis. A legal market could be worth more than US$3bn (£2.5bn) a year, and at least 101,000 hectares (250,000 acres) – primarily in the northern states of Sinaloa, Chihuahua, and Sonora – are already used for illegal production.

Reports suggest there are now 800 cannabis producers across the state of Oaxaca alone.


Earlier this year after protests in Oaxaca, the state’s authorities decreed that people can smoke cannabis in public.

Federal authorities also granted twenty-six Indigenous communities the right to cultivate cannabis on a small scale for medical use, which was legalised in 2017.

There are now reportedly about 800 producers across the state, though many were already growing cannabis and most, if not all, will be providing cannabis for recreational and medical use.

“Cannabis is an engine for economic growth,” says agronomist Daniel Ramírez López, who works with Oaxacan cannabis advocacy group Cooagro. “Indigenous people call cannabis pipiltzintzintli, giving it a sacred connection. Despite the serious bureaucratic obstacles due to a lack of initiative from the federal government, producers are organising so that they can carry out a legal economic activity that triggers development for all.”

Cannabis was introduced to Mexico – to be grown as hemp – more than 500 years ago by the Spanish conquistadores. It has been widely used, including by Indigenous people, in tinctures to aid sleep and relieve pain. The anthem of the Mexican revolution, La Cucaracha (the cockroach), charts the path of a peasant army smoking cannabis as they march.

But during the US-led “war on drugs”, the army bombarded communities with deadly chemicals to destroy crops. As recently as December 2020, in Oaxaca, about 3,000 sq metres of cannabis crops were set alight by the army.

“Before, we used to run to the hill because we were afraid of the military,” farmer Juan Cruz López told El Proceso. “They entered houses without a search warrant, detained whoever they found and took what little one had … that no longer happens.”

Campesinos under cartel control face little hope of change, but Cisneros and his comrades hope full legalisation is on its way. “We are realising that it is possible to radically change the way of thinking about this plant,” he tells the crowd in Puebla. “We are in this fight and we hope we are going to win. It grew to cure us.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
×