Government may increase amount of marijuana that can be legally carried

Manuel Mondragón y Kalb, National Commissioner Against Addictions, said that Mexico's federal government may increase the limit of marijuana that people are allowed to carry around (currently 5 grams or 0.17 ounces).

This change would permit the release thousands of first offenders, especially women, he said.

"The limit could be 28 grams (1 ounce), which we are told is enough to make 12 cigarettes, instead of 5 grams, which is barely enough for two cigarretes," Mondragón explained during the debate on marijuana legalization in Mexico organized by the Congress of Union.

Antonio Mazzitelli, regional representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, said that marijuana-based pharmaceutical products are allowed by international conventions, and that States can not prevent the entrance of drugs that can benefit those who suffer.