Colombia buries chance to regulate marijuana sales – 06/21/2023 – World

While Brazil awaits a judgment that could decriminalize drug possession this Wednesday (21), Colombia buried the chance to regularize the purchase and sale of marijuana this Tuesday (20).

The Colombian Senate rejected the change in the Constitution in the final stretch of its procedure.

In practice, the country today allows the consumption and possession of up to 20 grams of the drug, as well as the cultivation of 20 plants per person, unlike Brazil. Around here, these activities are still considered a crime and there is no limit that distinguishes personal consumption from trafficking, which is punishable by imprisonment. The Federal Supreme Court (STF) must now resume a case from eight years ago that could impose this limit.

In Bogotá, the proposed constitutional change would decriminalize commercialization and allow the creation of a legal adult cannabis market. The intention was to invest sector taxes in health and prevention programs focused on children and adolescents, in addition to reducing illegal drug trafficking.

The project had already been presented by liberal deputy Juan Carlos Losada on other occasions, but it had never gone this far. It passed seven heated debates over the past nine months, including on the House floor in May, by 98 votes in favor and 57 against. In one of the discussions, a congressman even offered chocolates, chewing gum and tea with marijuana to help convince his colleagues.

This Monday (19), the Senate continued the eighth and final discussion, but the vote was postponed again, ending up with insults and shouts from the opposition, who considered the postponement a maneuver to avoid rejecting the project. The session was adjourned when one congressman was missing to reach the quorum necessary to vote.

The House then had until this Tuesday to complete the vote, when the legislative period would end, otherwise the project would be shelved for not meeting the established deadlines. In the final stretch, the text was finally put to the test, but it only got 47 of the 54 votes it needed to reach the majority of a total of 106 senators.

If it had been approved, the project would still need to be sanctioned by Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s first left-wing president, who would have to publish a policy to prevent the use of psychoactive substances within 12 months. He was in favor of decriminalization and had already said that “the war on drugs has failed”.

It was a day of defeats for the president, who was the target of massive right-wing lawsuits across the country and also failed to get his labor reform forward in the last legislative session, which now depends on being included in extraordinary sessions.

The rejection of the marijuana bill was already expected, among other reasons, because a Senate bench wanted to modify the text that came from the Chamber to prohibit the promotion and advertising of the herb. By legislative procedures, this type of change cannot be approved on the same day that the project is voted on.

Around 30 countries in the world have already decriminalized the possession of one or more drugs for personal use, in different models. This means that people who consume drugs cannot be criminally prosecuted and imprisoned for using these substances, but are subject to administrative sanctions.

In the Americas, according to data from the Igarapé Institute’s Drug Policy Monitor, of the 36 countries on the continent, eight have decriminalized the use of all drugs: Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. Another seven decriminalize only the use of marijuana.

The region also includes territories that have legalized the entire cannabis market for medical, recreational or commercial use, regulating production, sale and consumption: Canada, Uruguay and most of the United States.

In Brazil, the expectation is for the judgment in the STF of the decriminalization of possession. This Wednesday, the court must analyze a lawsuit by the São Paulo Public Defender’s Office, stopped since 2015, which asks for the unconstitutionality of article 28 of the Drug Law of 2006. The text considers it a crime to acquire, store and transport narcotics for consumption.

The case in question is of a mechanic convicted of possessing 3 grams of marijuana while he was arrested in 2009. As the decision has recognized general repercussions, the result can be used to annul sentences and guide future sentences.

So far, three ministers have voted in favor of decriminalization. Rapporteur Gilmar Mendes was in favor of decriminalizing the possession of all drugs, while Luís Roberto Barroso and Edson Fachin restricted their votes to marijuana.

Barroso was the only one who defended the creation of quantitative parameters to differentiate the user from the dealer. In his vote, the minister suggested a limit of 25 grams of marijuana or the cultivation of up to six female plants for personal use.