Whilst in some corners of the arena the talk over hashish law stays caught in out of date prejudices, Mexico Town—not like maximum different Latin American capitals—is exploring extra humane, life like, and community-based tactics to coexist with the plant and the individuals who make a choice to make use of it.
On August 4th, the Govt of Mexico Town formally introduced the relocation of a number of tolerated public hashish intake spots, in accordance to Ecoportal. Those areas (which don’t seem to be dispensaries or Ecu-style espresso retail outlets) serve as as an alternative as collecting zones: puts of visibility, activism, and rights in motion, the place other communities come in combination to precise themselves, get arranged, and devour hashish brazenly. Their life wasn’t talented or random; they have been born from years of combat, resistance, and discussion with hashish collectives.
What are hashish intake spots in CDMX?
The tolerated hashish intake zones in Mexico Town, often referred to as “puntos 420” (420 spots, in English), are outlined public areas the place hashish use is, in apply, allowed with out police intervention. It’s now not prison, however it’s tolerated. It’s now not reputable, however it’s stated thru discussion. And above all, it’s a tangible instance of politics as a social assemble, now not a top-down imposition.
Those spaces deliver in combination clinical customers, leisure customers, cultivators, human rights defenders, artists, and the merely curious. Many of those areas—traditionally supported via the Movimiento Cannábico Mexicano and different collectives—have been situated in busy central spaces, like Plaza de l. a. Información close to Metro Hidalgo or the environment of the Museo Memoria y Tolerancia. Through the years, that sparked rising tensions with neighbors, passersby, and government.
Why have been they relocated?
Mexico Town’s Govt Secretariat defined that when receiving studies of unlawful substance gross sales in those spaces and noticing a “deterioration of our environment,” they known as for discussion tables with hashish collectives. The purpose used to be to maintain received rights whilst reclaiming and getting better transited public spaces with out resorting to repression.
“Those movements are the results of a number of running classes prior to now held with representatives of hashish collectives, prioritizing discussion and agreements to verify recognize for public house,” mentioned the Govt Secretariat (SECGOB) in an reputable liberate.
The primary center of attention isn’t on aesthetic clean-up, however on means: as an alternative of hiding or criminalizing hashish use, the federal government opted for reorganization with a social and participatory standpoint.
“A few of these areas had drifted clear of their unique objective, as unlawful substance gross sales have been reported, negatively impacting the city surroundings and the general public,” SECGOB defined.
A long way from backtracking on rights, Mexico Town reaffirms its dedication to revolutionary coverage. “In Mexico Town, we don’t roll again rights; we’re a forward-thinking town that acknowledges and protects the fitting to loose non-public building and bonafide types of expression,” the workplace declared.
This sentiment used to be additionally echoed and celebrated via CDMX Govt Secretary César Cravioto on his Twitter (X) account:
Un acuerdo histórico para un consumo más regulado y seguro en l. a. #CapitalDeLaTransformación.
Por instrucción de l. a. Jefa de Gobierno @ClaraBrugadaM, hoy reubicamos de forma pacífica y mediante el diálogo el punto tolerado de consumo de hashish en Metro Hidalgo y Av. Juárez.… %.twitter.com/YBJRVVduaK
— César Cravioto (@craviotocesar) August 4, 2025
The place are the brand new 420 zones in CDMX?
The brand new tolerated zones have been strategically decided on in spaces with decrease pedestrian and automobile site visitors to cut back city have an effect on and advertise coexistence. Those are:
- Plaza de l. a. Concepción, close to Belisario Domínguez and Eje Central
- Simón Bolívar Monument, on Paseo de l. a. Reforma and Violeta
- José Saramago Studying Plaza, at Circuito Internal and Reforma
In those places, SECGOB will deal with a consistent presence, and tents from the Dependancy Prevention and Care Institute (IAPA) will probably be put in to offer transparent details about the boundaries, regulations, and objective of every house.
“The reorganization seeks to revive the stability between exercising rights and correct use of public house, underneath stipulations of legality and protection for all,” government defined.
All through the relocation operation, individuals of the Citizen Safety Secretariat (SSC) helped be certain an orderly transfer. SPARVP used to be accountable for casting off unauthorized distributors, whilst the City Products and services Division (SOBSE) performed cleansing and upkeep within the recovered spaces.
As well as, C5 surveillance device poles have been put in in every new location, offering everlasting video tracking -a measure supposed to verify each protection and peace of thoughts for customers and passersby.
As an alternative of turning a blind eye or resorting to pressure, Mexico Town selected to stand truth in its public squares. It identified hashish customers as rights-bearing voters and understood that relocation isn’t a step backward when it’s executed with discussion, recognize, and a community-focused means.
“Those new places have been sparsely selected to reduce disruption to the general public, as they’re situated in spaces with much less foot and automobile site visitors, bearing in mind a stability between freedom of expression and freedom of motion in public areas,” SECGOB added.
For years, the hashish camps in CDMX were, along with areas for accountable use, symbolic territories the place other folks search (and get) tactics to make politics.
Revealed first on El Planteo.
Picture by the use of Shutterstock.