Colombia: Market and legal data analysis of the cannabis sector

30th August 2024: Colombia: President Gustavo Petro has asked the parliament to support a bill introduced in July that would amend the constitution to legalise recreational cannabis, press reports. Petro said legalisation would be beneficial in increasing the country’s exports and improving the economy. He also said it could help resolve security issues caused by illegal cultivation and trade in some areas of the country. Several attempts to amend the constitution in this regard have been made in the past. In December, the same bill was rejected by the parliament on its last vote due to last-minute discrepancies among representatives.
13th December 2023: Colombia: Bill 001/2023C, which sought to amend the Constitution to legalise cannabis, was archived yesterday by the Senate, press reports. The bill was meant to be debated this week, before the end of the regular period of sessions at the parliament, in order not to be automatically archived. It was expected that it would be approved, despite discrepancies, so that it could be subject to its subsequent four remaining debates in February. However, Senate members, some of whom were from one of the parties that introduced the bill, the Liberal Party, introduced a motion to archive it. The motion was supported by 46 votes in favour and 40 against. For the bill to be introduced again it would have to wait until July 2024, and it could not be passed until 2025.
12th December 2023: Colombia: Senate representatives María José Pizarro, from the centre-left party Pacto Histórico, and Juan Carlos Losado, from the Liberal Party, have asked the president of the Senate to prioritise the debate of bill 001/2023C – which seeks to amend the Constitution to legalise cannabis – before it is archived, press reports. The bill will be archived if it is not passed on its fourth debate at the Senate plenary before 16th December. However, if it is approved this week, the legislative approval procedure will continue and, in February, it will be subject to its four subsequent debates, as it needs to go through eight debates in total. The bill, other than legalising cannabis, establishes public usage restrictions and bans the advertising of cannabis.
23rd November 2023: Colombia: Bill 001/2023C amending the Constitution to legalise cannabis was approved yesterday (22nd November) on its third vote in the Senate. The bill, which was approved by 15 votes in the first commission of the Senate, must go through five further debates in order to be passed. The next debate will take place at the Senate plenary.
11th October 2023: Colombia: The Chamber of Representatives has approved, on its second vote, bill 001/2023C amending the Constitution to legalise recreational cannabis. The bill was approved with 85 votes in favour and 38 against. The bill has to go through six further debates in order to be passed. The next debate will take place at the Senate.
5th October 2023: Colombia: The discussion and vote of bill 001/2023C, which amends the constitution to legalise recreational cannabis, has been postponed amid a possible lack of consensus in the Chamber of Representatives, press reports. Today, the Chamber of Representatives was meant to discuss and vote on the bill, as well as discuss the report from the health sub-commission. The leader of the Colombian Conservative Party, Luis López, proposed to postpone its debate until a specific commission on cannabis has been created, while Carlos Ardilla from the Liberal Party said that the bill must be processed as soon as possible. The members of the Chamber initially voted against López's proposal to postpone the debate of the bill, but due to an insufficient number of members in the Chamber, the parliamentary session has been postponed until next Monday (9th October).
1st September 2023: Colombia: Bill 001/2023C amending the constitution to legalise recreational cannabis has been approved on its first debate in the First Commission of the Chamber of Representatives by 25 votes in favour and 8 against. The bill, which was introduced in July 2023, will have to go through seven further debates. It is likely to pass since it explicitly bans the advertising and promotion of cannabis, whereas the Senate rejected the previous bill in June because this measure was not included in the final draft. Another bill, which would allow municipalities to collect an excise duty from cannabis, will be processed at the same time, and the two bills will be merged.
26th July 2023: Colombia: A proposed amendment to the constitution to legalise recreational cannabis has been introduced again in the Chamber of Representatives as Bill 001/2023C. It is likely to pass since it explicitly bans the advertising and promotion of cannabis, the previous bill having been rejected in June by the Senate because such a measure was not included in the final draft.
30th June 2023: Colombia: The High Council for Criminal Policy has highlighted the need to legalise cannabis for adult use in the country, press reports. Despite last week's rejection of the bill legalising recreational cannabis in its final debate, the Council has published a statement supporting it. "The proposed reform seeks respect for the fundamental rights of those adults who resort to the use of cannabis, without criminal law interfering in their decisions and promoting human rights, public health and security of Colombians", the statement says.
26th June 2023: Colombia: The government has announced its intention to propose a new bill on recreational cannabis in July for the new legislative period, press reports. This comes after Bill 002/2022 – aiming to amend the constitution in order to legalise recreational cannabis for adult use – was rejected in its final debate last week due to a lack of agreement between the government and the opposition, which wanted to include an article to prohibit the advertising and promotion of cannabis.
21st June 2023: Colombia: Bill 002/2022, which would have amended the constitution to legalise recreational cannabis, has been rejected by the Senate, press reports. While the measure gained 47 votes among the 90 senators present, it fell short of the absolute majority of 54 votes required for a constitutional amendment. Opposition to the bill was led by the liberal Cambio Radical party, whose proposal to prohibit the advertising and promotion of cannabis was not included in the final draft.
19th June 2023: Colombia: The Senate failed to vote on the bill to legalise recreational cannabis last Thursday, and a debate has now been set for Tuesday, 20th June – the last day of the legislative session. This potential setback was unexpected and could leave the bill's fate in jeopardy.

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