Colombian President Santos Backs Medical Marijuana Fox News Latino
go to original August 18, 2014

In Colombia, President Juan Manuel Santos says he supports the legalization of marijuana for medical use.A bill has been sent to the Colombian Congress for debate. CCTV America's Michelle Begue reports from Bogota. (CCTV/DianaBlogger)

President Juan Manuel Santos last week endorsed newly introduced legislation that would legalize marijuana for medicinal and therapeutic use in this drug war-afflicted Andean nation.

Santos, a proponent of rethinking prohibitionist drug policies, made the announcement at a drug policy forum in Colombia's capital, Bogotá. It was his first major drug policy statement since he won re-election in June.

The bill introduced last month by a governing coalition senator is "a practical, compassionate measure to reduce the pain (and) anxiety of patients with terminal illnesses, but also a way of beginning to strip from the hands of criminals the role of intermediary between the patient and the substance that allows them to relieve their suffering," Santos said.

In the Americas, Uruguay has approved legal pot and Jamaica's justice minister announced in June plans to legalize the drug for religious and medical purposes and decriminalize the possession of amounts up to 2 ounces (57 grams).

Possession of no more than 20 grams of marijuana for personal use is currently legal in Colombia.

The medicinal-use bill was introduced by Sen. Juan Manuel Galan, whose father was assassinated in 1989 by cocaine traffickers. He told The Associated Press that other countries in the region considering similar measures include Argentina, Brazil and Chile.

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