Thousands of people marched on Saturday May 5, in nine cities of the country, including Mérida, to commemorate the World Day for the Legalization of Marijuana. In a series of demonstrations, citizens marched to decriminalize the use of the herb, both for medicinal and recreational purposes.
In Mexico City, the demonstrators – mainly young people, although there were also groups of children who require cannabis medicine – walked from the Alameda Central to the Angel of Independence.
With the slogan of “legal cannabis and cultivation now,” users of the drug insisted on legalizing the personal or adult consumption of marijuana in Mexico and demanded that presidential candidates and various positions of public representation be included in the debate on the consumption of marijuana.
“We are here to demand our rights and remind candidates that they already have to do something with this law. They do not want to address the issue, but we have to demand them, and not just the presidential candidates, also those who go to governors, legislators and municipal presidents; everyone should be participating in this issue,” said Leopoldo Rivera, one of the organizers.
In a later interview, the activist said that the bill that reformed the General Health Law and the Federal Criminal Code to allow the medical and scientific use of cannabis in the country fell short.
Demonstrators in Mérida walked all the way from Monumento a la Patria, along Paseo de Montejo, to Palacio de Gobierno (Photo: El Universal)
The aforementioned ruling eliminated the prohibition and criminalization of acts related to the medicinal use of yerba and its scientific research, and those that pertain to the production and distribution of the plant for these purposes.
The same day in Guadalajara, hundreds of people participated in the march in favor of medicinal and recreational legalization of marijuana, led on this occasion by Erika Sevilla, mother of the girl Monserrat, who suffers from West syndrome, severe form of epilepsy, for which the use of a non-psychotropic derivative of cannabis is necessary to stop the symptoms, which include seizures.
The family of the minor was the first one in Mexico to import the substance derived from cannabis, and it became an example to be followed by other families that have children with similar problems.
Patients with diseases that require the use of marijuana to attenuate their ailments also participated in the march.
A touch in the morning relieves the migraine, was one of the slogans that were repeated throughout the tour, which also showed signs in which it was stated that the self-cultivation would serve to end a good part of the business of the drug trafficking groups.
The marches took place in Tijuana, Monterrey, Mérida, Playa del Carmen, San Luis Potosí, Toluca and Puerto Vallarta.
