Street light vandalism in Bogotá, Colombia

Cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: ''Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternatively ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

is illegal for commercial sale, but legal for certain medical uses, and personal cultivation and consumption are decriminalized.

History

Cannabis in Colombia company Founder Manolo Rivera

Cannabis has been cultivated in Colombia since the late colonial period, when hemp was grown for its industrial fibres. However even at that early state, cannabis was recognized for its psychoactive uses, but these remained largely confined to the fringes of Colombian society, and discouraged by the Catholic church and national law. By the 1920s, possibly spurred by wider cannabis use in the Caribbean, recreational use of cannabis emerged in the Atlantic ports, particularly Barranquilla, leading the Colombian government to further restrict cannabis in 1939 and 1946. In the 1960s and 1970s, North American cannabis traffickers made inroads into Colombia, leading to booming production in the

Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (English: ''Snow-Covered Mountain Range of Saint Martha'') is an isolated mountain range in northern Colombia, separate from the Andes range that runs through the north of the country. Reaching an elevation of ...

and the

Urabá peninsula Urabá or Uraba may refer to: * Gulf of Urabá, a gulf in the Caribbean Sea in Colombia * Urabá Antioquia, a subregion of the Antioquia department, Colombia * Urabá Chocoano, a subregion of the Chocó department, Colombia * Urabá Island, an is ...

, where cannabis was smuggled in the region's massive northward shipments of bananas. According to the academic Steven Bender, marijuana from Colombia is known as "Colombian", as referenced in the American rock duo

Steely Dan Steely Dan is an American rock band founded in 1971 in New York by Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals). Initially the band had a stable lineup, but in 1974, Becker and Fagen retired from live ...

's 1980 song "

Hey Nineteen "Hey Nineteen" is a song by the band Steely Dan from their album ''Gaucho'' (1980). Background According to one reviewer's interpretation, the song "was about a middle-aged man's disappointment with a young lover".Layman, Will"Jazz Today: The ...

Decriminalization

In 1994 the

Constitutional Court of Colombia The Constitutional Court of Colombia ( es, Corte Constitucional de Colombia) is the supreme constitutional court of Colombia. Part of the Judiciary, it is the final appellate court for matters involving interpretation of the Constitution with ...

ruled that possession of cannabis and other drugs in amounts for personal use was legal. In 2012 the Colombian government officially decriminalized the possession of up to 20 grams of cannabis. In 2015 the Colombian Supreme Court ruled that cultivation of up to 20 cannabis plants was allowed.

Medical cannabis

In 2015, president

Juan Manuel Santos Juan Manuel Santos Calderón (; born 10 August 1951) is a Colombian politician who was the President of Colombia from 2010 to 2018. He was the sole recipient of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize. An economist by profession and a journalist by trade, ...

signed legislation allowing cannabis and derivatives for medical uses, and establishing guidelines for dispensaries.

History

Decriminalization

Medical cannabis

References

Further reading