Colombia’s plan to legalize cannabis has stalled for the year, with the Colombian Senate failing to push it forward with enough support in Tuesday’s final vote, even though a simple majority of senators present voted in his favour.
The legislation, sponsored by Deputy Juan Carlos Losada, had already been approved by both chambers last year, as part of the two-year process that constitutional amendments must undergo. It was then passed by the Chamber of Deputies in May and was considered by a Senate committee this month. Although she obtained the majority of votes in the Senate on Tuesday (47-43), it needed 54 for it to be promulgated.
Lawmakers will therefore have to start the two-year legislative process over again if they want to end prohibition. After the vote, Mr. Losada said supporters of the project “are sad, but convinced that we have given everything to the end”.
Estamos tristes, pero convencidos de que la dimos toda hasta el final. Nunca pensamos legar tan lejos. Hoy tenemos mayorías, faltaron 7 votes.
Llevamos 4 años en esta lucha y no desfalleceremos para escribir una nueva historia en la lucha contra las drogas.
¡Gracias! pic.twitter.com/Scu3BQW5cR
— Juan Carlos Losada (@JuanKarloslos) June 21, 2023
“We never thought it would go this far,” he said, according to a translation. “We have been fighting for four years and we will not give up to write a new story in the war on drugs.
“We are not going to give up. We will try as many times as possible to create a regulated cannabis market,” he added. “We will continue to fight.
Interior Minister Luis Fernando Velasco also reacted to the bill’s defeat, which he witnessed in the Senate Chamber, saying that “the government will insist on this issue, because basically, the ban only benefits the mafias”.
Senator María José Pizarro, who championed the legislation in the Senate, gave an impassioned speech last week when the measure was first introduced.
“The prohibitionist policy has increased the cost of a product which, without state control, has enriched and strengthened the criminal organizations that continue to grow and sow terror throughout the world,” she said. .
Hicimos allo lo posible porguarantear libertades, superar el caos juridico decadas, quisimos quitarle vidas y recursos a la ilegalidad. Quisimos para las comunidades, juventudes y mujeres una cotidianidad sin mafias y violencia.
A lo largo de todo el trámite por la… pic.twitter.com/mMb5DZfoVm
— María José Pizarro Rodríguez (@PizarroMariaJo) June 21, 2023
“We came to the debate exhausted, but with the peace of mind of knowing that we have done everything possible to ensure that this country imagines different paths to deal with an issue that affects it deeply,” said the senator after Tuesday’s vote, as reported El País.
The Cannabis Legalization Project in Colombia supports “the right to the free development of personality, allowing citizens to decide on the consumption of cannabis within a regulated legal framework”. It also mitigates “arbitrary, discriminatory or unequal treatment of the population that consumes”.
The text also calls for public education campaigns and the promotion of substance abuse treatment services.
