In a move expected to advance Mexico’s slow march toward decriminalizing cannabis, the nation’s Supreme Court has ordered the Health Ministry to draft regulations for medicinal cannabis use by mid-February.

Juan Francisco Torres Landa, who is Hogan Lovells’ office managing partner in Mexico City and has argued in favor of decriminalizing cannabis for more than a decade, said the ruling, handed down in August, “sets the clock ticking” for the government to outline regulations for medicinal use after many bumps in the road.