Mexico Senate passes medical marijuana bill / 墨掃毒十年成效差 藥用大麻擬解禁惹議　　　　　　　　　　

As the weather cools down, so does several government's opposition towards marijuana. As more US states have shifted their status quo toward acceptance of new drug policies, the Mexican Senate has similarly begun another approach to tackle its drug problem, through the country's first medical marijuana legislation. Shortly after California became Mexico's first border state to vote for comprehensive cannabis legalization in Nov. 2016, Mexico's Senate made its first move to catch up - but only with a medical marijuana bill that still needs lower house approval. ==ROBERTO GIL ZUARTH SENATOR National Action Party== Mexico needs to move forward, and soon. We need to resolve this debate. It doesn't make any sense for us to continue with all these deaths while in the United States use (of marijuana) is legal. California, which has an economy roughly twice the size of Mexico's, was widely seen as a bellwether for change. Since in Dec. 2006 the Mexican government began a military-led crackdown on drug cartels, over 150,000 people have died in gang-related violence and tens of thousands have disappeared. Rather than making things better, it led to a worse turf war among drug gangs. As recently many US states and Canada have embraced legal use for medical or recreational marijuana, the disparity in drug legislation has been stoking a debate in Mexico over whether its prohibitionist policies are effective. ==ZARA SNAPP drug policy consultant== It is good news that the debate in Mexico is back on the table and that we might be able to find the political will and also complaints from society so that we can have a more responsible form of regulation. In 2016, Mexico's Supreme Court set the ball rolling in a landmark case, granting a handful of people the right to grow and consume weed, and inspiring hope for change. Opinion polls show that while there is public support for medical marijuana use, Mexicans are still resistant to the idea of an outright liberalization of the drug for recreational ends. ==JOSE LUIS BOJORQUEZ member of public== Ok, so if they can't traffic marijuana anymore, the most that is going to happen is they won't make any money. But at best there might be a little more violence or they'll use kidnapping and extortion to make up for the money they can no longer get from trafficking marijuana. Mexico is a major drug transit and producing country for the US. It is believed that almost half the drug cartels' revenues come from cannabis. The income, estimated at $10 billion to $30 billion annually, indirectly causes other illicit activity. TRANSLATED BY：SASHA CHIU