A bill seeking to legalise the sale of adult use cannabis in Colombia fell short of the votes required to pass in a final Senate debate – a significant setback to the cannabis industry in Latin America, where a number of similar initiatives have failed in recent years.
Senators argued and bickered for hours on Tuesday over whether to approve or reject an initiative that sought to legalise the sale, commercialisation and distribution of cannabis in Colombia, which has suffered severe criminality and violence for decades from narcotics-trafficking and international drug cartels.