Overview
- In a 5–4 vote, the Court declared unconstitutional for this case the part of Article 478 that tied the exception to the 5‑gram table, falling short of the six votes needed for binding precedent.
- The ruling does not decriminalize cannabis possession or change the law, so the 5‑gram statutory threshold remains in force.
- Authorities must assess alleged personal‑use possession case by case, weighing objective factors such as time, place, mode and quantity, as well as subjective context like pharmacodependence.
- The petitioner was detained in Ciudad Juárez in 2021 with 14.26 grams and had been linked to trial for simple possession under narcomenudeo rules.
- A collegiate tribunal will reexamine the matter under the Court’s criteria, while four dissenting ministers warned that removing a fixed limit increases discretion and undermines legal certainty.