Yahoo News Judge in Mexico grants recreational cocaine use for two people in 'historic ruling'
A Mexican judge has given two people permission to use cocaine recreationally in the first ruling of its kind in the country's fight to end its "war on drugs".
The Mexico United Against Crime (MUCD) organisation said both claimants will be allowed to "possess, transport and use cocaine", but not sell it.
The decision, which MUCD called a "historic step", will be reviewed by a higher court before it is enforced.
It will come into effect if a panel of judges sides with the ruling made by the Mexico City court and will only apply to the two people, whose identities have been withheld, who brought the cases.
In a statement, MUCD said the cases represent "another step in the fight to construct alternative drug policies that allow [Mexico] to redirect its security efforts and better address public health."
Mexico has long struggled with violent conflict from drug cartels, with thousands of drug-related killings reported in the country every year.
Its Supreme Court has already authorised recreational marijuana use in individual cases.
The country's health authority, Cofepris, told AFP that it had taken steps to block the court order, which was handed down in May.
READ FROM YAHOO NEWS
Cocaine is booming like never before
Mexico City assesses monument damage after anti-rape march
Man dies of apparent overdose on Delta flight: 'There's no Narcan'
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who took office in December, has promised to decriminalise illegal drugs as a means of addressing crime caused by the trafficking and sale of illicit substances.
“This case represents another step in the fight to construct alternative drug policies that allow Mexico to redirect its security efforts and better address public health," MUCD said in a statement.
Lisa Sanchez, the group's director, said in a statement: "We have spent years working for a more secure, just and peaceful Mexico.
“This case is about insisting on the need to stop criminalising... drug users and designing better public policies that explore all the available options."
