The Colombian Senate has, once again, rejected the proposed legislation aimed to legalize adult-use cannabis in the country.
The proposed legislation faced a setback in the Senate on December 12 during the plenary session in its attempt to regulate the adult use and commercialization of cannabis. During the plenary session, a proposal to archive the bill submitted by Senator Karina Espinosa from the Liberal Party right before the formal debate began received 45 positive votes.
Following the vote, Senator María José Pizarro, who spearheaded the project, spoke before the plenary session. She vehemently criticized the senators who supported archiving the project, attributing blame to the Senate for enabling organized groups to profit and condemning youth and consumers to the influence of illicit traders and drug traffickers.
“The real people responsible for handing over youth to violent mafias are those who voted to file the project to regulate the commercialization of ADULT USE cannabis WITHOUT A SINGLE ARGUMENT. Shame,” she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Juan Carlos Losada, a representative for Bogotá from the Liberal Party and a sponsor of the proposal, expressed disappointment with the plenary session’s decision. He pointed out that the lack of clarity stemming from the misinformation about the repeal of Decree 1844 of 2018 and the actions of “certain congressmen” contributed to the outcome. Additionally, he raised questions about whether the proposal to archive the bill originated from within his own party.
