A new cannabis club has opened in Oaxaca City. Club Botánico Rosa María offers a safe space for cannabis education, responsible use, and community dialogue around marijuana culture in Mexico.
A new chapter in Oaxaca’s evolving cannabis landscape began this week with the opening of Club Botánico Rosa María, a cannabis-focused social space located in the heart of Oaxaca City. The venue, one of the first of its kind in the region, aims to promote education, responsible consumption, and community engagement around cannabis—offering a safe and supportive environment for those interested in exploring the plant’s uses, history, and legal status in Mexico.
Tucked away in the vibrant Jalatlaco neighborhood, known for its cobblestone streets and colorful colonial architecture, Club Botánico Rosa María is more than just a cannabis lounge. The founders describe it as a cultural hub designed to demystify cannabis, challenge lingering stigmas, and cultivate informed dialogue around the plant’s medicinal, spiritual, and recreational dimensions. The club’s atmosphere reflects its mission—lush with potted greenery, locally made furniture, and a quiet sense of reverence for the plant that remains at the center of both curiosity and controversy.
At its core, Club Botánico Rosa María functions as a private membership-based community. Access is granted only to adults who have registered as members and who agree to adhere to a code of conduct that emphasizes responsible use, mutual respect, and non-commercial activity. The space does not sell cannabis products, in compliance with current Mexican laws, but allows members to bring and consume their own cannabis on-site within a carefully regulated and communal framework.
The club’s founders include local activists, artists, and educators who have been involved in Oaxaca’s broader push toward cannabis decriminalization and normalization. In a press release, they described their initiative as “a response to both a legal opening and a cultural need.” With marijuana possession of up to 28 grams decriminalized in Mexico and a growing national debate over full legalization and regulation, the club positions itself as a proactive model of what responsible cannabis culture can look like.
Workshops, discussion circles, and educational events are a central part of the club’s offerings. Topics include the history of cannabis in Indigenous traditions, harm reduction strategies, legal literacy, and cultivation techniques for personal use. The club also hosts screenings of documentaries, art exhibitions, and live music performances—all centered on plant medicine, social justice, and community resilience.
One of the club’s first events, scheduled for this weekend, is a roundtable discussion on cannabis and Indigenous identity, featuring speakers from Oaxaca’s Zapotec and Mixe communities. The event will explore how colonial narratives have shaped modern drug policy and how current legalization efforts can either replicate or dismantle those legacies. According to the organizers, this intersectional approach is essential to understanding cannabis in Mexico, where the war on drugs has disproportionately harmed Indigenous and rural communities.
Club Botánico Rosa María is named after a fictional matriarch figure who, according to club lore, was a healer and herbalist revered for her wisdom, intuition, and rebellious spirit. The name, and the story behind it, serve as a symbolic tribute to the women and caretakers—often overlooked in cannabis discourse—who have safeguarded plant knowledge for generations.
For many in Oaxaca, the opening of the club marks a significant cultural moment. The city has long been associated with traditional medicine and plant-based healing, including the use of sacred mushrooms in nearby Sierra Mazateca. The integration of cannabis into this context is both a natural extension and a modern reimagining of how psychoactive plants are approached and understood.
Still, not everyone is celebrating. Some critics, including conservative local officials and parents’ groups, have voiced concerns about the normalization of cannabis and the potential influence on younger populations. They argue that without a clear federal regulatory framework, such clubs operate in legal gray areas that could lead to abuse or public safety issues.
In response, the club’s legal advisors stress that their model is carefully structured around constitutional protections for private association and individual rights. They argue that, far from being a loophole, the club is a legal and socially responsible innovation in the absence of clear government regulation.
The national debate over cannabis legalization continues to unfold in Mexico’s legislature, where proposals to create a federally regulated market for cannabis production and distribution have stalled multiple times. While the Supreme Court has declared the blanket prohibition of recreational cannabis unconstitutional, lawmakers have yet to finalize a comprehensive framework. In this vacuum, grassroots initiatives like Club Botánico Rosa María are stepping in to fill the void—offering alternative models that prioritize education, harm reduction, and human dignity.
Members and supporters of the club see it as a test case for what a post-prohibition future might look like. They point to international models such as Spain’s cannabis social clubs and Uruguay’s state-regulated cannabis system as examples of how community-centered approaches can avoid the pitfalls of commercialization while safeguarding public health.
“We are not trying to recreate the dispensary model from the U.S.,” said one of the founders during a media tour of the space. “Our inspiration comes from solidarity, not sales. From care, not capital. We want to build a space where cannabis use is grounded in ethics, information, and mutual respect.”
The club is also exploring partnerships with local artisans, herbalists, and farmers to incorporate a broader spectrum of traditional healing practices into its programming. From tincture-making workshops to temazcal ceremonies, the vision of Club Botánico Rosa María is holistic, rooted in Oaxaca’s cultural richness while pushing toward a more inclusive and sustainable future.
As more people in Oaxaca and across Mexico begin to rethink their relationship with cannabis, spaces like Club Botánico Rosa María offer not only a place to gather but also a framework for transformation. Whether it becomes a model replicated elsewhere or remains a unique experiment in community resilience, its presence is already igniting conversations about autonomy, harm reduction, and the possibilities that open up when stigma gives way to understanding.
For now, the doors are open, the incense is burning, and a new kind of club is quietly making history in Oaxaca.