CDMX cannabis advocates light up despite stigma
Digital collage by Andrea Mireille (@quemadurasinternas) for Ojalá.
Reportage • Andrea Mireille • November 7, 2025 • Leer en castellano
It's hot in the city, and you’re in the mood for some refreshment and a good buzz. You see a colourful corner shop covered in rainbows, flowers, mushrooms, and bongs that smile cheerfully, beckoning you in. You’re looking at Chicks, the only shop in Mexico City where you can legally eat and drink cannabis products.
Chicks was born out of a long struggle by activists and cannabis users. In 2018, a General Declaration of Unconstitutionality lifted the total ban on recreational marijuana use in Mexico. Since then, though, authorities haven't established clear regulations, and legal grey areas abound. Throughout the country, consumers constantly encounter prejudice, disparagement, police harassment, and even arrests for personal possession.
The first companies on the scene were limited to offering smoking accessories, cosmetics, and decorative items. México’s Federal Commission for Protection against Health Risks (Cofepris), the agency responsible for regulating, controlling, and monitoring products and services and establishing standards and policies regarding health risks, granted the first cannabis-related permits at the end of that year.
To report this story, we visited some of Mexico City’s tolerance zones, where the safe use of cannabis is promoted, including Chicks, to learn how they’ve operated since their formal recognition by city authorities.
A place to enjoy and learn
Most smoke shops in Mexico City follow a version of the same model: they’re in-and-out shops selling accessories, and they’re primarily focused on, managed, and staffed by men.
Chicks is different: it is a safe place for members of the LGBTQ+ community, where everyone is welcome and can freely express their identity and cannabis use without experiencing the stigma and criminalization that persist in Mexico.
Brenda Hernández founded Chicks in 2018 as a digital platform seeking to change perceptions of cannabis. The aim is to educate people who want to learn more about the therapeutic, industrial, and power of the plant as an instrument of self-knowledge and pleasure.
“You have to find a way and remain resilient: in the cannabis industry, there are no guarantees. My hope is that with places like this, we can create a responsible industry,” said Hernández in an interview with Ojalá. “We are learning so much from the Senate and activists, who we’re constantly engaging with.”
She opened her first brick-and-mortar store in 2021. Some time later, she moved the shop to the Juárez neighborhood, a well-connected central area with a high influx of tourists. Its proximity to key arteries such as Paseo de la Reforma, Bucareli, and Chapultepec Avenue facilitates access from other points of the city and via public transport.
In the new location, she added a bar that serves coffee, herbal teas, and smoothies in different flavors, to which you can add “magic”—that is, Delta 8 and 9, derivatives of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive compound found in cannabis.
“You can find them here at the shop legally and in measured doses: all our products are laboratory tested, labeled in accordance with the law, and approved by Cofepris,” Hernández explained.
Despite experience and responsible use, there’s always a possibility of a bad trip. Paletearse, as we say in Mexico, can provoke dizziness, weakness, chills, vomiting, heart palpitations, and anxiety, as well as hypoglycemia and low blood pressure.
That’s why the Chicks team has a protocol in place to provide support to folks so they can come down safely, including breathing techniques, monitoring, checking in, and making sure they stay hydrated.
Hernández highlights the importance of talking to customers, so they can make informed choices and minimize risks.
New spaces blossom in the city
Chicks is a unique place in Mexico City, but what if you're not nearby, can't afford a smoothie, or simply prefer to smoke? The answer lies in the cannabis tolerance zones found in different parts of the city.
These spaces, formerly known as cannabis encampments, emerged in 2021 as a kind of protest movement. According to authorities, they were dismantled in response to citizen complaints about the sale and consumption of other illegal substances.
Following negotiations with the Mexico City government, Secretary of Government César Cravioto signed an agreement with collectives to relocate the recreational use sites, which went from being “tolerant zones” to ”permitted zones”. The encampments were relocated on August 4, 2025, to sites with less pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
Today, they remain active in several downtown locations—Simón Bolívar, José Saramago, and Tlaxcoaque squares—and most have remained relatively close to where they first emerged. There’s also the 420 Commune, which has maintained a spot outside the Pino Suárez metro station since 2023. Activists also run an information booth—where they’re not allowed to smoke—outside the senate.
Zara Snapp is an activist and founder of the RIA Institute, who describes these spaces as being born out of resistance and civil disobedience—a notable victory in Mexico's long history of prohibitionism.
“If you're walking down the street, a few blocks from the tolerance areas, you can smoke at your leisure and continue on your way,” she said. “They are a great achievement for the community, and I invite everyone to use them.”
There is still no established system for the sale or cultivation of cannabis. In fact, Article 235 bis of the General Health Law still classifies the use of cannabis in alcohol or tinctures, such as those used by patients with certain types of epilepsy, as illegal.
Specific and clear regulations are lacking for both therapeutic and personal and recreational use.
An afternoon with a spliff
As soon as you exit the Pino Suárez metro station in the historic center of Mexico City, you can smell the weed. It's Saturday, the mood is upbeat, and everyone wants to have a good time: there’s a DJ playing, tacos galore, and stoners playing chess. A calm, relaxed atmosphere prevails.
Víctor Novoa is a member of La Comuna 420, which first set up outside the subway station two years ago. Contrary to the narrative in traditional media, he says that since they were moved from the Supreme Court to this location, the community has welcomed them with open arms.
“A lot of seniors come here because they use grass in alcohol and ointments for various ailments,” said Novoa, who gave me a flyer and handed out more to passersby while making sure those gathered were happy and comfortable.
Smoking is allowed in the designated area, but the commune adheres to government rules that prohibit the sale, purchase, and consumption of other substances and seeks to limit personal possession to 28 grams, among other things.
The fight is still a long-term battle for the commune, especially with regard to market regulation, since cannabis remains illegal. However, “rights come first, then the market,” said Novoa in an interview with Ojalá.
“Don't forget that this is your space, and you can come whenever you want,” he told me as we said our farewells.
Just 10 minutes away is Hijas de la Cannabis (Daughters of Cannabis). In August of this year, they set up in the Plaza de la Concepción—“La Conchita,” as the downtown plaza also known—one of the areas the government designated for marijuana use.
However, after disagreements with neighbors—who threw tomatoes and glass bottles at them—they moved to Plaza Tlaxcoaque, which, according to activist Valeria Falcón, turned out to be much better.
“It's big and very quiet here, the park is across the street, there's a fountain and benches, we're very comfortable,” Falcón said.
Falcón explains that the space is gender inclusive, but priority is given to women and ensuring their safety. If anyone is harassed, they can approach the group members. “We take care of chasing them away,” she said with a smile. So far, she adds, they have not had any problems, and those who attend say they feel safe and comfortable.
Collective members arrive at the square every morning at 11 and set up their tent, along with a small information stand. Valeria says office workers often come through on their way to work, while others stop by at lunchtime.
Besides live music and the freedom to smoke, they host a soccer tournament and offer courses and talks on growing your own cannabis.
Whether in a boutique or in one of the tolerant zones, marijuana and its green leaves are gaining ground in Mexico City. Activists and cannabis consumers in the city are fighting stigma and stereotypes every day, and they know that slowly but surely, the future is lush and green.
