Colombian President to Legalize Medical Marijuana

Colombia’s Minister of Health announced that the government is set to legalize the distribution and use of medical marijuana.

The bill will legalize marijuana strictly for medical and scientific reasons, officials say. “Nobody is talking about legalizing anything except for these two purposes,” said Justice Minister Yesid Reyes.

Once President Juan Manuel Santos signs the bill it will allow Colombia to regulate everything from licensing for growers to the eventual export of products made from marijuana.

Included in the bill as an “export license,” which will allow Colombian marijuana growers to export their product to other countries where it is legal, such as Canada, Netherlands, and Uruguay.

Colombia is part of a growing trend of countries – Uruguay, Mexico, Canada, Portugal, Australia, U.S. – implementing pro-marijuana laws in order to treat medical ailments as well as to fight drug cartels via legalization, regulation and taxation instead of war and imprisonment.