Former Mexican Pres. Vicente Fox wanted a piece of the country's cannabis industry so much that he broke the law, says current Pres. Andrés Manuel López Obrador (a.k.a. ALMO).
Fox is being accused of amassing illegal cannabis permits in 2018. Guidelines were issued then, but never published in the Official Gazette of the Federation. This happened at the end of previous Pres. Enrique Pena Nieto's term.
ALMO stated on Apr. 11: "Authorizations were granted with surprising speed from November 21 to 30, 2018. A total of 65 authorizations were granted to these 11 companies."
Several of those companies, including Kuida Life Mexico, are linked to Fox, who has advocated for legalization since leaving office in 2006.
The Sanitary Operation of the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris) is expected to revoke the permits. Marijuana remains illegal in Mexico (except for possession of five grams or less), despite the country being the second-leading producer in the world.
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Fox responded with series of angry tweets, translated below in English:
• LOPEZ, YOU ARE THE GREAT LIAR OF THE MORNING!! I CHALLENGE YOU TO PRESENT EVIDENCE OR SHUT YOUR SNOUT UP!!!
• They keep talking about the past to hide the failure that is the present.
• LOPEZ DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME DISCUSSING THE FOX FAMILY....... WHY NOT COMPLETELY LEGALIZE THE ISSUE OF CANNABIS...
• WITH LOPEZ THE ONLY RESULT IS THAT THERE ARE NO RESULTS!! WITH LÓPEZ THE ONLY ABSULUTE TRUTH IS THAT THERE IS NO TRUTH!!
• LÓPEZ, A LIE, MORE..... I DON'T HAVE ANY CANNABIS LICENSE!! YOU ARE A PINOCCHIO, LONG NOSE AND LIAR VONSTITUDINARY!! REVIEW COFEPRIS IS YOUR OWN INFORMATION.
Vicente Fox in Freedom Leaf
On May 30-31, 2018, I attended the CannaMexico World Summit, an event hosted by Fox at his hacinenda in Guanajuato. In advance of that event, I interviewed Fox for a cover story in Freedom Leaf. It was six months before the permits were allegedly acquired.
At the time, Fox opposed the government's plan to allow U.S. cannabis companies to set up shop first in Mexico. "It's absolutely stupid," he said. "How can you open an industry that's going to generate income and jobs, and you don't allow it to produce in Mexico? We are fighting against that. The retailing will be here, but not the production. That’s wrong."
I asked the former President if he ever smoked mota.
“No, I have not tried it, because I don’t feel like it,” Fox replied. “I have tried a lot of things, but not that one. My position is based on reason, science and humanism. That’s what I believe in. I don’t need to take the product to change my convictions. So, my beliefs are those. That’s why I’m associated to this movement.
“Me? I have a tequila," Fox added. "When I’m at a conference I have a tequila before I speak. I get myself very nice and smooth. It opens my mind.”
