Lawmakers in Colombia have taken another step toward legalizing the use of cannabis. At the beginning of October, the Chamber of Representatives First Committee voted overwhelmingly to legalize the use of the plant. Weeks later, the Colombia Senate Committee also voted to legalize the use of the substance.
“The national government supports this draft legislative act for the adult use of cannabis,” Justice Minister Néstor Osuna said, according to Marijuana Moment.
“We believe that it is very important that this step be taken towards a responsible market—a responsible regulation that allows us to overcome this prohibitionist atmosphere.”
Having made its way through the Senate and Chamber of Representatives First Committee, there are still a number of legal hurdles it must pass before becoming law. However, President Gustavo Petro has indicated that he may be open to getting on board with legalization efforts.
“We’ll see if [cannabis can be] exported and we’ll earn a few dollars because half of humanity [has],” he said earlier this year.
“If we are going to legalize cannabis, are we going to keep all those people imprisoned in overcrowded prisons, or has the time come to release many people from prisons simply because they were criminalized for something that is legal in much of the United States?”
If passed, the bill would provide adults over 18 “the right of the free development of the personality, allowing citizens to decide on the consumption of cannabis in a regulated legal framework.” Additionally, it would attempt to limit “arbitrary discriminatory or unequal treatment in front of the population that consumes.”
