The First Commission of the Senate is studying – in seventh debate – a legislative act in this regard. It is the first time that this initiative is about to be approved.

The Minister of the Interior Luis Fernando Velasco, made a fierce defense of the legislative act that seeks to regulate cannabis for adult use in Colombia. Velasco said that the government of President Gustavo Petro agrees to approve this initiative that is being debated in the seventh debate in the First Commission of the Senate.

Precisely the head of the political portfolio asked the senators who make up the commission to support the text that is being debated and reiterated that it has the endorsement of the Executive.

“I do believe that a good way to deal with drug addiction in Colombia is to legalize cannabis for recreational use. It will help us a lot and that is why the Government strongly supports this initiative,” Velasco said.

Minister Velasco’s position was known because Senator Karina Espinosa presented a file proposal for this legislative act with the signatures of Senators Jota Pe Hernández, Paloma Valencia, among others.

It is expected that this Tuesday – May 30 – the First Commission of the Senate will make a decision on the initiative and if it is approved, it will go to its last discussion in the plenary of said corporation. If majorities vote no, the legislative act will automatically sink.

Before starting the debate, the initiative that seeks to regulate cannabis for adult use in Colombia, led by Representative Juan Carlos Losada and supported by the national government, became this Monday, May 29, the apple of discord that led to a hard cross in social networks between Congressman Losada and Senator Humberto de la Calle.

The clash began after a message posted by De la Calle on his Twitter account in which he shared with his followers that he will participate in the Madrid Book Fair (Spain), where he will present the book he recently launched.

“I’m excited to share that my participation in the @FLMadrid is coming. I was invited to present my novel ‘The Unlikely Death of Hercules Pretorius’ on June 2nd. I invite all those interested,” said the senator and former peace negotiator.

What was a harmless message became a source of discord, after Representative Losada announced that, by going to the Madrid Book Fair, De la Calle would be absent from the vote on the project that legalizes marijuana in Colombia.

“Hopefully we don’t need your vote for cannabis regulation today because, even though your event is on June 2, you decided to leave today and will not attend the vote. Tremendous act of irresponsibility,” Losada said with a visible tone of annoyance.

The liberal representative also let it be seen that De la Calle would not only lose the vote on the cannabis project for adult use, but also on the reform that creates the Agrarian Jurisdiction, which is a project of the peace agreement.

Marijuana legalization

A project that seeks to legalize a marijuana market has never gone so far and those who support it are certain that it is now or never. With the backing of a progressive government and a largely renewed legislature, approval is getting closer. The initiative has passed six of eight debates and is pending discussion by the First Commission of the Senate, this week.

Despite this, due to the government’s congested legislative agenda, the project has fair times and a considerable risk of sinking for a while. Being an amendment to the Constitution, it could not be debated in extraordinary sessions, so it must have its last two debates in the next four weeks.

However, one can see the Government’s commitment to supporting the initiative. It is clear that this is a priority because of how agile the transfer of the bill to the Senate and the scheduling of the debate was. In addition, President Gustavo Petro, in recent days, asked the Congress of the Republic to “take the step” towards legalization.

“I hope from the Congress of the Republic, there are two debates left for a change in the Constitution, that it is approved, that we take that step. That I undoubtedly recognize that there are moral or ethical obstacles, for what we have suffered around these productions and these consumptions, but that the world is going elsewhere. That it goes for the legalization of that economy that was previously illegal and that Colombia can have a great commercial and productive and popular advantage if the Congress of the Republic, like so many congresses in the world, it takes the step towards removing illegalization,” the president said in Nariño.

Although the First Commission of the Senate of the Republic is a conservative public, those who lead the project trust that the congressmen who supported it in the first round of the project will do so in the second. The detail is that for this stage it must be approved by an absolute majority, that is, the positive votes of the majority of the members of the legislative cell.