Mexico
In Mexico, manufacturers that obtain pre-market authorization can legally sell CBD products with a content of less than 1% THC.
This means Mexican consumers can find CBD products on the shelves, such as food supplements, cosmetics and beverages.
US manufacturer Rocky Mountain High Brands, for instance, partnered with Mexican company CBD Life to sell three such drinks: Rocket High, California Lemonade and California Black Tea.
Mexican policymakers also proposed a bill at the end of 2018 to approve medical and recreational cannabis.
“[These] plans […] for full cannabis legalization would change the market,” said Pablo Cano Trilla, head of legal analysis at CBD-Intel, a market research and regulatory analysis company specialized in the CBD sector.
As in Colombia, legalizing cannabis is seen by some as a way to bring Mexico’s spiraling narco-violence under control.
Vicente Fox Quesada, the 55th President of Mexico and former CEO of Coca-Cola Latin America, sits on the board of directors of Khiron Life Sciences, a Canadian cannabis company with plantations in Latin America.
Upon taking up his position, Fox Quesada said: “This represents a great opportunity to accomplish our dream of reducing violence in Mexico due to the underground and illegal crime activities related to Cannabis.
“[We want to] move [towards] a new legal industry creating jobs and income for families, taxes to governments and wealth creation.”
© GettyImages/bubaone