Cannabis Decriminalized in Columbia

At the end of June, the nation of Columbia in South America made the
move to federally decriminalize cannabis. The president has declared that if a
person has less than 20 grams of cannabis on hand, they cannot be legally
prosecuted or arrested.

The law also extends to allow 20 grams of cocaine, which hopefully will
cut down on the many arrests for small possession of the drug in Colombia that
detract from the time that could be spent tracking down dangerous drug cartels.
The law does allow for psychological treatment to be recommended for those who
are extremely inebriated while in possession of cannabis or cocaine, but no
legal action can be taken.

The “judicial ruling in Colombia represents yet another important step
in the growing political and judicial movement in Latin America and Europe to
stop treating people who consume drugs as criminals worthy of incarceration,” Ethan
Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance told Toke
of the Town. “This trend follows in the footsteps of European reforms
since the 1990s,” he adds, referencing Portugal’s decision to
decriminalize in the early 2000s.

This is a big step forward for South America, and represents the fact
that the continent as a whole is making the shift towards a more sensible drug
policy and a more lenient stance on cannabis as recreation. South America is
also unique in that most of these policies are not moving from the people up to
the senate, but being enacted by presidents as national law.

This should mean another great cannabis-friendly vacation destination,
as well as another wonderful source for rare outdoor-grown buds. Hopefully,
even more South American countries will follow suit. Columbia has wonderful
weather and boasts such strains as Columbian Red Bud and Santa Maria Gold—so
this is great news for everyone, near and far.