Guest Opinion: Colombia Should Legalize Adult Marijuana Use Today
Any American who smoked pot in the 1970ās likely came across Colombian marijuana. In 1979, in fact, Colombia was providing āroughly twoāāthirds of all the pot smokedā in the United States, according toĀ Time Magazine. The industry certainly was illegal, but it also arose from an exemplary instance of bicultural exchange and bilateral trade. It was, after all, American Peace Corps volunteers who came across the legendary āSanta Marta Goldā strain on Colombiaās Caribbean coast, thus kicking off the countryās decadeāālong āmarijuana bonanza.ā
The boom times for Colombian pot came to an end due to the onset of the War on Drugsāwhich President Nixon officially declared in 1971ā and the rapid rise of indoor cannabis farming in the fifty states. Today, withĀ nearly halfĀ of U.S. states having legalized recreational consumption, and with the end of federal prohibition perhaps in sight, is there any chance that Colombian cannabis can regain its former glory daysāthis time legallyā in the American market? Much depends on if, when, and how federal prohibition is repealed, but also on Colombiaās capacity to reform its own byzantine drug laws.
A law approved in 1986 (no. 30) defined any quantity up to 20Ā grams of marijuana as the āminimum doseā for personal consumption, and it applied aĀ series of criminal charges for its possession. In 1994, however, Colombiaās Constitutional Court ruled that no individual could be penalized for carrying said minimum dose. However, the law, which is still in effect, makes it aĀ criminal offense to possess or carry aĀ narcotic, āwhatever its quantity, for the purpose of distribution or sale.ā
As IĀ wroteĀ inĀ Foreign Policy, the minimum dose rule provides aĀ good example of Colombiaās trademark legalism: unless one grows cannabis oneself (more on which later), the only way to obtain aĀ legal gram for personal consumptionāor 20āis by buying it, illegally.
Eventually, local drug warriors would have their say. In 2009, former president Alvaro Uribe passed aĀ Legislative Act (no. 2) which altered Article 49 of the constitution so as to prohibit āthe possession and consumption of narcotic or psychotropic substances, unless prescribed by aĀ medical doctor.ā The following year, Uribeās government introduced aĀ bill (Law 248) that sought to regulate the legislative act and criminalize the minimum dose. TheĀ objective, professors Hernando LondoƱo and Adrian Restrepo argue, was to bolster the war against the drug cartels by targeting internal consumption. This latter initiative failed and the minimum dose was maintained. Nonetheless, by enshrining drug prohibition in the constitution, Uribe made any future reform of the countryās drug laws extremely difficult.
In 2015, when the government of former president Juan Manuel Santos sought to legalize medical marijuana, it had to resort to aĀ decree (2467) that expanded on Law 30 of 1986. The decree regulated cannabis production for āstrictly medical or scientific purposes.ā While legalizing the medical use of marijuana was aĀ step in the right direction, the local industry has been saddled by red tape.
This editorial originally ran June 15 in the Cato Institute Blog. It is generously shared under a Creative Commons license. The original can be read here.
For instance, physicians still are allowed to prescribe onlyĀ manufactured cannabisāābased products, not dry cannabis flower.Ā Also, the use of CBDāa multibillionāādollar industry in the U.S.āis not allowed in Colombian food, beverages, supplements, or veterinary products. Since the local market has not been allowed to develop, local cannabis firmsāincluding aĀ few that raised funds in the U.S. and are even listed on the Nasdaqāare on the verge of bankruptcy. Potential investors, meanwhile, are eyeing other markets, and rightly so.
The black market, however, has thrived, not least because the 2015 decree allowed the āselfāācultivationā of up to 20 cannabis plants for personal use without aĀ license from the Health Ministry. Since each plant can produce around aĀ kilo of marijuana, massive amounts of pot are grown legally, only to be transported and sold illegally. Which is to say, Colombian lawmakers have created the worst of all worlds for consumers and legal producers alike, this in spite of the industryās immense potential to generate profits, jobs, and tax revenues.
But Colombiaās Congress now has aĀ chance to unravel the marijuana muddle. AĀ new Legislative Act, introduced by Representative Juan Carlos Losada, aĀ member of the Liberal Party, seeks to insert anĀ exceptionĀ for adult, recreational cannabis consumption into Article 49 of the constitution. This would create aĀ legal market to buy, sell, and distribute marijuana in Colombia. After being approved in seven debates in Congress, Losadaās project faces one final hurdle in the Senate on Thursday, June 15.
Legislators should approve the measure. Colombian conservatives should keep in mind that extreme leftist Gustavo Petro, the current president, did not bring forth the initiative (despite hisĀ supposedly revolutionary stanceĀ against the drug war). Hence, supporting marijuana legalization does not involve supporting the government. Centerāāright politicians also should remember the words of the greatĀ Alvaro Gómez, the conservative leader whoĀ warnedĀ as early as 1976 that the war on drugs was doomed to failure.
Regulating marijuana use for adults, on the other hand, implies seizing the local market from violent, criminal gangs and leaving it in the hands of the legal, regulated businesses that can assure quality, safety, and transparency. Eventually, when the United States and other countries open their markets to cannabis products from other latitudes, Colombia can regain its standing as aĀ global exporting powerhouse. Far more than foreign aid handouts, the country could use aĀ legal marijuana bonanza.