Mexico City, November 5 (teleSUR-RHC)-- Mexico's Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday the recreational use of marijuana is constitutional, a decision likely to lead to legalization.

The court ruled four to one in a case first brought in 2013 by an advocacy group that was denied permission by regulators to grow and cultivate marijuana plants for recreational use.

Despite the ruling, Mexico's current drug laws remain in place as the court’s decision only applies to the specific petition brought by the advocacy group.

Supreme Court Justice Arturo Zaldivar specified the ruling would not “in any way provide authorization of business activities, supplying or any other provision that refers to the sale and/or distribution” of marijuana.

In his opinion presented to the court, Justice Zaldivar argued that limits on personal consumption of marijuana for adults were unconstitutional.

In 2009, the country decriminalized the possession of small amounts of recreational drugs, making it legal to carry up to 5 grams of marijuana, 500 milligrams (0.018 ounce) of cocaine and tiny amounts of heroin and methamphetamine.

Production and commercialization of the drug is illegal in Mexico. The government has been mired in a long-standing conflict with drug cartels who smuggle illicit drugs over the border into the United States, including marijuana.
    
Both the government and public opinion in Mexico are opposed to the legalization of marijuana. Nonetheless, drug laws throughout Latin America are now being challenged or revoked.

U.S. officials have placed heavy pressure on Latin American governments to employ strict drug laws as part of its so-called war on drugs. However, even stalwart allies such as Colombia's Juan Manuel Santos have questioned the efficacy of the United States' heavy handed approach.

Other countries, such as Bolivia, have seen drug production drop after expelling U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency officials. Bolivian President Evo Morales is a former leader of coca leaf growers and has legalized the traditional use of the coca, the plant that is the key ingredient in cocaine.

Uruguay, led by the leftist Broad Front, legalized marijuana in 2013.