Disclaimer: The information provided on this blog regarding the legality of cannabis in Mexico City is for general informational purposes only. As the author, I acknowledge that my knowledge of Mexico City’s cannabis laws and regulations is limited and may not be comprehensive or up-to-date.
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I have been in Mexico City for almost a month and weed legality in Mexico City is confusing to say to the least. I want to give you guys a personal POV of my experience as a weed smoker here in Mexico City (CDMX). This guide is most useful if you’re staying in the typical tourist areas. I’ll warn you before I start. If you don’t want to go out of your way to smoke, maybe just wait until you’re back home to consume. CDMX isn’t the easiest place to smoke. Especially if you’re accustomed to living in a fully cannabis legal city.
Before I visited, I read online that cannabis possession up to 5 grams is legal/decriminalized. It seems that sales are the grey area. If you talk to locals, they’ll say be very careful claiming that it’s not legal. It’s hard to know who or what to trust. A dilemma that I and others have also encountered in some states in the U.S. It’s smart to read guides like this to try to stay as safe as possible while still consuming.
All the ways to consume weed in the U.S. exist here as well. The question is, how hard are you willing to work for it? In my experience the safest way to consume flower in the city is to use a dry herb vaporizer. If you can vape it in your AirBnb or hotel room, I’ve determined through lots of trial and error, that this is the safest and most discrete method. Since my apartment doesn’t allow smoking, I have been using the Arizer Solo 3 and have my Arizer XQ2 in my luggage as well.
If you’re familiar with dry herb vapes, then you know they tend to have a smell. The difference being that it’s a smell that doesn’t stick to anything. It’s more of a floral smell than weed when it’s rolled up or smoked in a bowl. The smell typically dissipates quickly, thankfully. If you can clean your vaporizer and bring a new set of glass tubes on your trip, do it.
If you’d like to learn more on where you can buy some bud, and/or eventually know you’re going to want to smoke a joint. Keep scrolling.
Estela De Luz
I recently moved into an apartment in Roma. I’m right next to Chapultapec Park, where Estela de Luz is. This is the easiest place for me to buy and smoke bud. For the last week I’ve gone to the popular smoking spot after work. There’s a pop-up market tent that’s set up there everyday. I don’t know the exact hours, but I’ve seen them setting up around 9 o’clock in the morning. I’ve smoked there as late as 7:30 p.m. If you want to be sure, just go during the middle of the day.
At the tent I’ve purchased: a joint, flower, and their special wax & kief joint. When I was feeling thrifty, I purchased the joints sitting on the table for $40mxn ($2.02 USD). They also have joints for $20mxn ($1.01 USD), $30mxn ($1.51 USD), and $60mxn ($3.11 USD) I believe. From what I’ve heard, they have packs of 2 of the $60mxn joints priced at 2 for $100mxn (5.18 USD). What worried me the most was thinking they may have been spliffed. I know spliffs tend to be very popular in other countries. I prefer my bud not to be mixed with tobacco or any other herbs.
I ended up smoking the j’s anyway. I did buy them after all. And I’ve since found out that they are not spliffed. The cheaper ones just definitely have seeds and stems inside the paper. I’d say the joints were a fair size. I’d guess there was .7 loaded in there and it smoked pretty evenly.
I usually just stand alone and stick out being the only black person among the other few hundred mostly Mexican smokers. It’s not a big deal, but just in case anyone was wondering. There are all types of people in the area: young, old, professional, blue and white collar, homeless, men, and women. There’s even usually a small section that’s marked “Zona De Mujeres” for the women who want to smoke together. The people in these “Tolerance Zones” are predominantly men. So I understand women needing their own space.
During my first session, I looked at Chapultapec park to my left. I saw a few small smoke shop stands set up on the sidewalk in front of me. To my right were huge skyscrapers named after American companies. It felt surreal to be smoking in another country with the locals. Estela de Luz definitely isn’t the MOST comfortable place to smoke, but it serves its purpose. I took another hit and realized the bud was definitely working, I was faded.
I will sadly admit, the bud tasted pretty bad. It was lowering my eyes in a sloppy type of way. The feeling is reminiscent of what we’d call “reggie” in the U.S., I didn’t care. I was just happy to be smoking my first joint in over 2 weeks. The power was out in my apartment, so it was the perfect opportunity to be chilling in the Mexican sun while enjoying an American holiday, Labor Day.
My second session at Estela de Luz I was determined to ask for “El Mejor Joint”. I wanted to dry their best joint available. I’d asked for it the day before, but hadn’t felt like forking over the $150mxn. The young woman selling it to me warningly told me it was $150mxn. As if she was expecting me to say “no, that’s too much”. Something in my head also told me “no that’s too much”. I went with the cheaper option. Sometimes I still forget how to do the conversions quickly, and I end up panicking. I’d forgotten that $150 pesos is about $7.50 USD.
For the second session I happily set $160mxn on the table, got my change, and unwrapped my prize. I was excited. A joint, wrapped in oil, and sprinkled with kief. I pretty much smoked the entire j standing there. The reggie the day before made me drowsy and made my chest hurt a little bit. This joint felt like indica flower wrapped in sativa oil. My excitement wore off and I immediately got paranoid. I am not a Sativa smoker.
I’m in no way a Sativa smoker. I was able to compose myself as we walked through Chapultapec Park searching for tacos. The joint had me fried for quite a while. It was something that surprised me, and I’m glad it did. It’s also something I won’t be smoking on on any type of regular basis.
If you’re in Roma Norte or Condesa, or just happen to be walking through the park. It’s worth stopping by to see what they have. They also have edibles available, and I bought a small plastic grinder there for $30mxn ($1.50 usd). You also do not have to purchase weed from there. Since I prefer to buy loose flower, I usually go to Koot’s Canna.
Estella De Luz Summary
- Pop-up market tent operates daily
- Products available: joints, flower, and edibles, accessories
- Prices range from 20mxn to 60mxn for joints & ~50mxn for grams of flower
- Quality varies, with cheaper options containing seeds and stems
Koots Canna
Koots Canna as I understand it, is the city’s sole dispensary. The Roma Norte dispensary is a typical “show your I.D. and choose” type of shop. They have vapes, edibles, pre-rolls, and loose flower from brands that are familiar to Americans. At least Americans who live in legal states. I noticed there is a clear California to CDMX pipeline established with a section of “Cali Bud”. Koots really hammers down on the point by having flower from Sinaloa as well as a section of “Cali Bud”.
I’ve bought by the 8th each time I’ve gone. The prices have ranged from about $400 pesos to around $1000 pesos ($20 – $50 USD). Cali bud will obviously be the most expensive. They also sell by the gram, quad, half, and zip depending on supply. They have mushrooms available that a friend of mine tried and liked. I haven’t tried them personally. From what I saw, they were not cheap. That may not matter too much if you’re on vacation though.
The pens were also not cheap. The prices I was getting were between $1000-$2000+mxn ($50-$100+ USD). Their inventory is constantly changing. When you go and check it out, there are likely to be new and different options from what I’ve seen.
When I compare Koots to Estela, I found the quality at Koots in general was much higher than Estela De Luz. The Cali bud I got from Koots mostly looked and smelled the part. It certainly wasn’t the best Cali has to offer, but it’s better than anything I bought off the street here. Koots unfortunately does not offer a place to smoke. What they will allow is grinding and rolling up your weed. You can smoke some close by at one of my favorite places I’ve found in the city thus far. A two-in-one bar and coffee shop called La Juanita.
Koots Canna Summary
- Dispensary operates daily at 10am-8pm Monday Through Saturday
- Products available: joints, flower, and edibles, wax pens, mushrooms, accessories
- Also has “Cali Bud”
- Prices range from 400mxn to 1000mxn ($20.61-$51.53) for an eighth
- Quality varies, with cheaper options not being as good, but still quality
La Juanita
La Juanita is an Amsterdam-style coffee shop that serves tea, coffee, and alcoholic drinks. Most days La Juanita opens at 4:20pm. As I’d suggest with most small businesses in Mexico City, call ahead to confirm the days and times they’re open. You can step outside as you enjoy your drink and smoke a joint, bowl, or vape of your choice. Estela De Luz is still an option to chill and smoke (I’d suggest it), but La Juanita is a more private space where you can hang out with friends or just sit solo enjoying your own peace.
Having a safe space to smoke, especially in a foreign country, gave me peace of mind and a sense of comfort. Naturally, there was some anxiety and hesitancy as I watched the police drive up and down the block. They didn’t even look our way.
La Juanita Summary
- La Juanita is an Amsterdam-style coffee shop where customers can smoke outside.
- No Cannabis Sales
- Opens at 4:20 most days
Plaza De La Información
Since starting this blog, I learned about another tolerance zone. For you guys, I had to visit. I took an Eco-Bici over to Plaza De La Información. A park of sorts that has a similar setup to Estela De Luz, but instead located in Centro. You can go there to purchase and smoke bud just like Estela. The main difference at Plaza, is there are tons of salesmen. You immediately get hounded by mostly 20-something year old “pusha” men. They underhand wave you over, and immediately show you joints.
As I said, joints in the wild scare me. I was searching for flower and I ended up stopping at the first salesman that approached me. They let me smell and see it, which was cool. It looked like they shoved 1-2 grams in little gram baggies. They pinch the side as if it released the smell. If you say you want Indica, they’ll pretend to dig through the bag for different strains. Some salesmen clearly had different stuff. In reality some of it looked like it was just packaged differently. Most had an “expensive” and “cheap” strain essentially.
There was a table set up for sales here as well. There were pens, edibles, and flower in some American branded bags. It just felt too phony. Those bags screamed fake at the top of their lungs. The table was nothing as organized as the Estella De Luz system.
I shopped with like 5 dudes. In general I’d say it was better than what I saw at Estela De Luz. I think because of a greater perceived variety. I bought from a dude that looked a bit younger than me. A 1-2 gram baggie for $50mxn ($2.50 USD). The smell of the outdoor flower here is always a natural floral smell. I’ve actually learned here in CDMX that smelling the flower is a bad form of judgement. How it looks and smokes are the only true markers of what’s good.
The flower of an older guy, who looked around 45, had the best look. I think I bought 4 grams for $100mxn ($5.00 USD). I asked for Indica mostly, just to see what they’d say. All of the salesman claimed to have it. The only place where the flower has smoked like a real Indica is at Koots. Everything else has smoked like a hybrid. If a lot is smoked, it’s kind of anxiety-inducing. With a relaxing chill feeling on the back end.
Plaza De La Información Summary
- Tons of salesman out there daily
- Products available: joints, flower, and edibles, accessories
- Prices range from 20mxn to 60mxn ($1-3 USD) for joints & ~50mxn (2.50 USD) for grams of flower
- Quality varies, with cheaper options containing seeds and stems
I’m sure as I stay here, I’ll learn about more plugs. I don’t plan on risking anything to smoke weed out here. I’m just trying to stay safe. There’s more options available to locals of course. But I do think I’ve outlined some of the best options available in CDMX to a foreigner.
-GP
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