The Colombian Senate has put on hold a bill that would have legalized marijuana. This means lawmakers will have to start the two-year process again in order to implement the reform.
The Senate chose to delay the consideration of the proposal Tuesday, with 45 votes. This was the fourth of the eight debates required to adopt the constitutional change.
In recent days, lawmakers who supported legalization have urged the Senate to consider the bill urgently. The sponsor has warned about the dangers of not taking action before the session of 2023 ends this week. The vote went as planned, but they did not get the debate.
Rep. Juan Carlos Losada who champions legalization in Chamber of Representatives blamed his defeat on “misinformation”. This was a result of opponents, even members of his party, regarding a separate administrative order to fully legalize simple possession of drugs.
He claimed that opponents misrepresented the recent executive order of President Gustavo Petro, which eliminated the $50 fine for small amounts of drug possession and removed the police’s ability to seize the drugs. This was a part of a wider decriminalization program enacted by the Constitutional Court.
The opponents raised questions about the need to move forward with cannabis-focused reform, even though it had nothing to do with marijuana legalization.
According to a translated post, he stated that the project to regulate adult cannabis use had just been halted at the Senate plenary. The repeal of Decree 1844 just a few days prior to this debate, and the maneuvers of certain congressmen – including some of my own party – led to the initiative’s shelving.
Se acaba de hundir el proyecto que pretendia regular el cannabis de uso adulto en la plenaria del Senado. La desinformacion generada por la derogatoria del Decreto 1844 de 2018 a pocos dias de este debate y las maniobras orquestadas por ciertos congresistas, entre ellos… pic.twitter.com/5VyXyGSGHT
— Juan Carlos Losada (@JuanKarloslos) December 12, 2023
He said: “We will fight for a new drug policy. We are convinced that this is the only solution to the war, and to prevent the consumption of problematic drugs and their impact on the most vulnerable people.” “We will persist until misinformation, and manipulations, are no longer at the forefront of this debate.”
La politica prohibicionista contra las drogas ha sumido a Colombia en una guerra sin sentido.
No regular #LaMarihuanaEs continuar en el status quo que seguira dejando el negocio en manos de los jibaros y los narcotraficantes y que en nada protege a los ninos, ninas y… pic.twitter.com/c5AeiFNlce
— Juan Carlos Losada (@JuanKarloslos) December 13, 2023
Losada continued, “The prohibitionist drug policy has plunged Colombia in a senseless conflict.”
Maria Jose Pizarro (Sen.), who is the sponsor of the cannabis bill, said in an opinion piece published in El Tiempo Monday that the prohibition of cannabis is “an erroneous policy that has resulted in the waste of resources, increased prices, criminalization and overcrowding of those with the least power, as well as the failure to address the crises that are caused by other substances.”
?Por que regularizar el #CannabisDeUsoAdulto? Vamos a arrebatarle el negocio a los narcos que se han potenciado y lucrado a falta del control estatal y a proteger nuestra ninez y juventud que es victima de la ilegalidad
Mi columna de opinion a proposito del debate que daremos… pic.twitter.com/wA4dNGkk0c
— Maria Jose Pizarro Rodriguez (@PizarroMariaJo) December 12, 2023
She stated. It also encourages illegal actors to spread and makes it impossible for a lucrative business that is projected to grow in the future, such as a car dealership, from collecting taxes.
In a post on social media, the senator called out opponents of the cannabis bill who had orchestrated its defeat on Tuesday as being “pure cynicism”.
She said, “They claim to defend family, youth, and children but prefer to leave business to…drug dealers who control the parks, territories, and state, even in violation of the Constitution.” “The people who are responsible for the violent mafias gaining control of the youth is the group that voted against the regulation of adult-use cannabis without a single argument.”
Cinismo puro! Dicen defender la familia, las juventudes y la ninez, pero prefirieren dejarle el negocio a los jibaros y narcotraficantes que tienen el control de los parques, los territorios y Estado, en contra, incluso de la Constitucion.
Los verdaderos responsables de entregar… pic.twitter.com/6h1X5TMju4
— Maria Jose Pizarro Rodriguez (@PizarroMariaJo) December 12, 2023
The bill was already approved by the Chamber of Representatives earlier this year, before it went to the Senate. Even if the bill cleared the Senate Tuesday, it would still need to pass both chambers next year to reach the President’s desk.
The Senate stalled the measure in its final stages during the last session, forcing advocates to restart the long legislative process.
Nestor Osuna, the Justice Minister, said at last year that Colombia was the victim of a “failed war designed 50 years ago, and due to absurd prohibitionism, has brought us blood, armed conflicts, mafias, and crime.”
The Colombian President, after a recent trip to the U.S. recalled the smell of marijuana wafting along the streets of New York City. He commented on the “enormous hysteria” of the legal cannabis sales that are now taking place in he nation that started the global drug battle many decades ago.
Petro took a leading role at the Latin American Caribbean Conference on Drugs, in September. He noted that Colombia and Mexico were “the biggest victims of this [drug] policy,” and compared the war on drugs to “a genocidal act.”
Petro gave a speech last year at a United Nations (UN) meeting, in which he urged member nations to change fundamentally their drug policies and to abolish prohibition.
He has also spoken about prospects for legalizing marijuana in Colombia, as a way to reduce the influence of illicit markets. He also said that the new policy should be followed up by releasing those who are currently behind bars for cannabis.
Connecticut Marijuana Sales Set New Monthly Records in November
Image element provided by Bryan Pocius.
The article Colombian Senate rejects marijuana legalization bill in another major setback for advocates first appeared on Marijuana Moment.
