For the first time, a Mexican judge has ruled that medicinal marijuana is legal to use in the country. Medicine with cannabidiol will be used to treat an 8-year-old girl who suffers from Lennox-Gastaut and has up to 400 seizures a day. “It’s a breakthrough in our country because marijuana has been a complicated topic in our country,” lawyer Fabián Aguinaco said, according to El Nuevo Diario. Just this week, it was reported by Vice that the editors of cannabis magazine Cáñamo were told by the Comisión Calificadora de Publicaciones y Revistas Ilustradas de la Secretaría de Gobernación (Segob) that they’d have to make their case to keep their business alive. They have published just two issues, but they run the risk of being shut down.
For his client, Aguinaco argued that if the government ruled against the medicine the young girl needs, they would be “violating various human rights,” by deciding that she should live her life in pain. The girl already explored her legal options, including split-brain surgery. When that didn’t work, her parents tried to find cannabidiol.
Aguinaco said that though the ruling is a victory, authorities may still appeal. In December 2014, Jalisco was looking to become the first Mexican state to legalize marijuana.