Colombia, one of the countries that for decades has been the epicenter of the so-called war on drugs, is closer than ever to legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes.
On Tuesday, the House of Representatives approved with 98 votes in favor and 57 against a proposed constitutional amendment to an article on public health. With the change, Article 49 would now say that the prohibition of the consumption of narcotic and psychotropic substances "will not apply to the use by adults of cannabis and its derivatives."
Marijuana would only be restricted in carrying and consumption in public areas or near spaces with minors such as schools.
It is the fourth time that attempts have been made to legalize recreational cannabis in the Colombian Congress, but the first time that it manages to move from a very early stage to being tentatively approved.
For Juan Carlos Losada, representative of the Liberal Party that proposed the amendment, this is because the 2022 elections opened the door to more progressive legislators; the president himself, Gustavo Petro, has been critical of the war on drugs and favors the legalization of cannabis.
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Losada adds that the other three proposals also allowed for a public debate to generate consensus. A group of various public figures, including former ministers from previous right-wing governments, even launched the #LaMataNoMata campaign advocating for the potential economic benefits of regulating marijuana.
"I think if there's one country in the world that has the moral authority to reframe the failed war on drugs, it's Colombia," Losada told Noticias Telemundo in a telephone interview.
He considered that "it is Colombia that has put the dead, who has seen the massacres and car bombs, who has had the international stigma that drug trafficking has left us. It is Colombia that has seen how the money of the illegal drug trafficking mafias has eroded the foundations of Colombian democracy," since in the 70s criminal groups in the South American country became the largest exporters of marijuana worldwide before making the transition to cocaine.
Juan Carlos Losada in the Colombian House of Representatives on May 9 Courtesy
Despite decades of trying to end the consumption of narcotics with the eradication of crops or militarized actions, it has remained worldwide according to data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The UN itself removed cannabis from its list of most dangerous narcotics in recent years.
For all these reasons, Losada believes that it is more than time to "try a path other than prohibitionism, which must fall." He says that legalizing will better regulate where and how the cannabis plant is grown, how it is sold and what treatment with a public health approach can be given to prevent and alleviate the use and abuse of substances.
Other Latin American countries, notably Uruguay, which was the first country in the world to establish a national state cannabis market, have also taken steps in that direction. In Mexico, another focal point of the fight against narcotics, both medicinal and recreational use of cannabis has also been decriminalized.
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In Colombia, cannabis for medical and research purposes has also been legal since 2016, and the export of CBD products and the cannabis flower has been allowed since 2021.
The pending but
For Colombia to reach legalization, two votes are still needed, in the first commission of the Senate (which sees constitutional reforms) and then in the plenary of the Upper House. Those debates would tentatively take place at the end of May and must be done by June 20 when the legislative session ends.
It's because potential constitutional amendments must go through a so-called double-round process, which means that each legislative chamber debates and votes on the measure twice each, both in committee and on the floor.
The Senate had already approved the adult cannabis proposal in December, although with a simple majority (at least 50% plus one of the votes). In this second round, there will need to be a qualified majority (two-thirds of the votes), which would require convincing about five senators to change their previous vote to one in favor.
Opponents of the proposal in Colombia say allowing marijuana use could expose more minors to it and other drugs, or make those who have used it feel empowered to do so more regularly.
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According to Losada, international experiences in places like Uruguay or U.S. states that also have legal markets show that this will not be an issue.
For example, a 2019 study published in the medical journal JAMA found that U.S. states where recreational use is legal has not increased underage use.
"A reform of this magnitude has difficulties, but I am optimistic that we will achieve it," said the legislator.
If in the end it is approved in the two of eight remaining votes there will be a period of 6 months to decide how it will be regulated and the legalization itself would take effect until within a year after it is enacted.
