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Colombia\u2019s Chamber of Representatives and Senate have voted to reconcile their respective versions of marijuana legalization bills that recently advanced, with both bodies accepting minor changes to create a unified final product that\u2019s now set to advance to key votes in the new year.<\/p>\n
Because the legalization proposal would amend the country\u2019s Constitution, the legislation must pass both chambers again in 2023\u2014and a key Senate sponsor of the bill says that she expect it to be formally enacted by June.<\/p>\n
The reconciliation process took place about a week after the Senate overwhelmingly approved its version<\/a> of the reform legislation. The bill had previously received initial approval in Colombia\u2019s Chamber of Representatives.<\/p>\n The reconciliation passed the Chamber in a 103-39 vote, as Infobae reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n #PlenariaSenado<\/a> | \u2014 Senado de la Rep\u00fablica Lawmakers accepted the Chamber\u2019s provision barring the possession and use of unregulated psychaocative substances without a medical prescription, for example. It also limits marijuana consumption and marketing near school zones and in public spaces.<\/p>\n #HoyEnC\u00e1mara<\/a> Aprobado #InformeConciliaci\u00f3n<\/a> Proyecto de Acto Legislativo N\u00b0 002 de 2022 C\u00e1mara \u2013 033 de 2022 Senado \u201cPor medio del cual se modifica el art\u00edculo 49 de la Constituci\u00f3n Pol\u00edtica de Colombia, se regulariza el cannabis de uso adulto y se dictan otras disposiciones\u201d pic.twitter.com\/SphJ5AQjRM<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 C\u00e1mara de Representantes de Colombia (@CamaraColombia) December 15, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n A section adopted from the Senate version deals with respecting the autonomy of indigenous communities and having the government issue a decree recognizing their right to regulate the plant and \u201cguarantee interculturality as an essential element of the fundamental right to health,\u201d according to a translation.<\/p>\n The last major change concerned the effective date of the law, with lawmakers accepting the Chamber\u2019s version, which says that the law takes effect 12 months after implementation of the legislation.<\/p>\n En Conciliaci\u00f3n en #PlenariaDeC\u00e1mara<\/a> se aprobaron los siguientes Actos Legislativos en su 1era vuelta y la Ley:<\/p>\n Avanzamos hacia una \u2014 MinInterior Colombia (@MinInterior) December 15, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n \u201cFor the first time in history, Colombia is advancing at such a level in this discussion,\u201d Sen. Mar\u00eda Jos\u00e9 Pizarro Rodr\u00edguez, sponsor of the the Senate legalization bill, said, adding that supporters \u201chope that regularization will be a reality in June.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoy fue aprobada la conciliaci\u00f3n del acto legislativo de #CannabisDeUsoAdulto<\/a>. <\/p>\n Por primera en la historia Colombia avanza a tal nivel en esta discusi\u00f3n, esperamos que sea una realidad la regularizaci\u00f3n en junio de 2022. #EsHoraDeRegular<\/a> @JuanKarloslos<\/a> \u2014 Mar\u00eda Jos\u00e9 Pizarro Rodr\u00edguez (@PizarroMariaJo) December 13, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n \u201cWe hope that in the second round this Project will be approved and will help the growth of the Colombian countryside and reduce the crime of drug trafficking in the country,\u201d Rep. Saray Elena Robayo Bechara said.<\/p>\n Aprobado en primera vuelta el Acto Legislativo que regula el cannabis de uso adulto. Esperamos que en segunda vuelta este Proyecto sea aprobado y logre ayudar al crecimiento del campo colombiano y reducir el delito del narcotr\u00e1fico en el pa\u00eds. @CamaraColombia<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/qzoxi0ICrK<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Saray Robayo Bechara (@sarayrobayobech) December 14, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Lawmakers have met several times in recent weeks to debate the reform proposal, which would amend the country\u2019s Constitution to end cannabis prohibition for adults.<\/p>\n At\u00a0a public hearing in the Senate panel last month<\/a>, Justice Minister N\u00e9stor Osuna said that Colombia has been the victim of \u201ca failed war that was designed 50 years ago and, due to absurd prohibitionism, has brought us a lot of blood, armed conflict, mafias and crime.\u201d<\/p>\n #Hist\u00f3rico<\/a> | Celebramos la aprobaci\u00f3n en primera vuelta del proyecto que busca legalizar el uso adulto del cannabis en \u2014 CARLOS ARDILA A supplementary legislative analysis provides background on the history of cannabis policy in Colombia, while also describing reform developments in other countries such as Mexico and the United States.<\/p>\n The legalization\u00a0bill<\/a>\u00a0would support \u201cthe right of the free development of the personality, allowing citizens to decide on the consumption of cannabis in a regulated legal framework,\u201d it says. And it would mitigate \u201carbitrary discriminatory or unequal treatment in front of the population that consumes.\u201d<\/p>\n The bill will restrict possession and public consumption at schools and certain public spaces. It also calls for public education campaigns and the promotion of substance misuse treatment services.<\/p>\n The Colombian Chamber of Representatives\u00a0gave initial approval to a legalization bill<\/a>\u00a0in October. In addition to Osuna, the head of the Interior Ministry also spoke in favor of the reform proposal at the time. That vote came shortly after a congressional committee\u00a0advanced this measure and a separate legalization bill<\/a>.<\/p>\n As a proposed constitutional amendment, the legislation needs to undergo eight debates in total, separated over two separate calendar years.<\/p>\n The justice minister also\u00a0discussed\u00a0legislative legalization efforts at an\u00a0event focused on cannabis reform last month, emphasizing the need to enact a policy change the promotes economic growth and public health.<\/p>\n As lawmakers move to approve the reform bill, Osuna said that government agencies will be working to facilitate a \u201cfaster, less difficult\u201d licensure process.<\/p>\n President Gustavo Petro, a progressive who has been strongly advocating for an international end to drug criminalization since being inaugurated in August, has discussed the possible benefits of cannabis legalization.<\/p>\n In September, the president\u00a0delivered a speech at a meeting of the United Nations (UN)<\/a>, urging member nations to fundamentally change their approaches to drug policy and disband with prohibition.<\/p>\n Petro also recently talked about\u00a0the prospects of legalizing marijuana in Colombia<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0as one means of reducing the influence of the illicit market.\u00a0And he signaled that the policy change should be followed by releasing people who are currently in prison over cannabis.<\/p>\n He spoke about the economic potential of a legal cannabis industry, one where small towns in places like the Andes, Corinto and Miranda could stand to benefit from legal marijuana cultivation, possibly without any licensing requirements.<\/p>\n The president also signaled that he\u2019d be interested in exploring the idea of \u200b\u200bexporting cannabis to other countries where the plant is legal.<\/p>\n U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), who chairs the House Rules Committee,\u00a0cheered the official swearing in of Petro<\/a>\u00a0, saying that he looks forward to \u201cworking together to\u2026rethink drug policy, and much more.\u201d<\/p>\n President Joe Biden, on the other hand, seems intent on perpetuating the drug war in Colombia, with U.S. military support. He released a\u00a0memorandum<\/a>\u00a0to the defense secretary in August that authorizes the \u201cinterdiction of aircraft reasonably suspected to be primarily engaged in illicit drug trafficking in that country\u2019s airspace.\u201d<\/p>\n He said that it\u2019s \u201cnecessary because of the extraordinary threat posed by illicit drug trafficking to the national security of that country\u201d and because \u201cColombia has appropriate procedures in place to protect against innocent loss of life in the air and on the ground in connection with such interdiction, which includes effective means to identify and warn an aircraft before the use of force is directed against the aircraft.\u201d<\/p>\n Petro also met with the president of Mexico last month, and the pair announced that they will be bringing together other Latin American leaders for an international conference focused on on\u00a0\u201credesigning and rethinking drug policy\u201d<\/a>\u00a0given the \u201cfailure\u201d of prohibition. Mexican lawmakers are also pursuing national legalization.<\/p>\n \u2014 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0in a joint appearance with Petro in October that the U.S. generally backs his \u201cholistic approach\u201d to drugs. The Colombian president, for his part, said that countries need to \u201cview the war on drugs differently.\u201d<\/p>\n As a former member of Colombia\u2019s M-19 guerrilla group, Petro has seen the violent conflict between guerrilla fighters, narcoparamilitary groups and drug cartels that has been exacerbated by the government\u2019s aggressive approach to drug enforcement.<\/p>\n According to the United Nations Office of Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), Colombia remains a chief exporter of cocaine,\u00a0\u00a0despite\u00a0\u00a0\u201cdrug supply reduction activities in Colombia, such as eradication of coca bush and destruction of laboratories.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2020, Colombian legislators introduced a bill that would have regulated coca, the plant that is processed to produce cocaine, in an acknowledgment that the government\u2019s decades-long fight against the drug and its procedures have consistently failed.\u00a0That legislation cleared a committee, but it was ultimately shelved by the overall conservative legislature.<\/p>\n Advocates are optimistic that such a proposal could advance under the Petro administration. The president hasn\u2019t taken a clear stance on the legislation itself, but he campaigned on legalizing marijuana and promoted the idea of \u200b\u200bcannabis as an alternative to cocaine.<\/p>\n Former Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos has also been critical of the drug war and embraced reform. In an editorial published before he left office, he criticized the United Nations and U.S. President Richard Nixon for their role in setting a drug war standard that has proven ineffective at best and counterproductive at worst.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is time we talk about responsible government regulation, look for ways to cut off the drug mafias\u2019 air supply, and tackle the problems of drug use with greater resources for prevention, care and harm reduction with regard to public health and the social fabric,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis reflection must be global in scope in order to be effective,\u201d Santos, who is a member of the pro-reform Global Commission on Drug Policy, said.\u00a0\u201cIt must also be broad, including participation not only of governments but also of academia and civil society.\u00a0It must reach beyond law enforcement and judicial authorities and involve experts in public health, economists and educators, among other disciplines.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a U.S. congressional delegation\u00a0returned from a visit to Colombia<\/a>\u00a0in October, and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), who was part of the trip, told Marijuana Moment that one theme of his discussions with officials in the country was that the world has \u201clost the war on drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n Key Senate Chairman Signals Marijuana Banking Will Wait Until 2023, Says There\u2019s \u2018Interest In The Republican House\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Image element courtesy of Bryan Pocius<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Colombia\u2019s Congress Agrees To Final Marijuana Legalization Bill, Which Key Senator Expects To Be Enacted By June<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Colombia\u2019s Chamber of Representatives and Senate have voted to reconcile their respective versions of marijuana legalization bills that recently advanced, with both bodies accepting minor changes to create a unified final product that\u2019s now set to advance to key votes in the new year. Because the legalization proposal would amendContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":59449,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59448"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59448"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59450,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59448\/revisions\/59450"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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| Ha sido APROBADA la conciliaci\u00f3n del PAL 033 de 2022 Senado: \u201cPor medio del cual se modifica el art\u00edculo 49 de la Constituci\u00f3n Pol\u00edtica de Colombia, y se regulariza el #Cannabis<\/a> de uso adulto”. pic.twitter.com\/BQqDebLDcE<\/a><\/p>\n![\"🇨🇴\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/1f1e8-1f1f4-1.png\")
(@SenadoGovCo) December 13, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n
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Cannabis de uso adulto![\"➡\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/27a1-1.png\")
Campesinado como Sujetos de Derechos![\"➡\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/27a1-2.png\")
Jurisdicci\u00f3n Agraria y Rural![\"➡\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/27a1-3.png\")
MinIgualdad<\/p>\n![\"🇨🇴\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/1f1e8-1f1f4-2.png\")
Potencia Mundial de la Vida. pic.twitter.com\/rHEMgUk734<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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pic.twitter.com\/cUnGQ2bbyk<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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. Este Congreso ![\"🏛\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/1f3db.png\")
da un gran paso en la lucha antidrogas, con mayor prevenci\u00f3n y recursos para los territorios. pic.twitter.com\/8zftKqmW08<\/a><\/p>\n![\"🚩\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/1f6a9.png\")
(@CARLOSARDILA10) December 15, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
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\nRead More: Colombia\u2019s Congress Agrees To Final Marijuana Legalization Bill, Which Key Senator Expects To Be Enacted By June<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"