The administration of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has been preparing legislation to decriminalize personal drug possession, reported newspaper El Espectador Tuesday.
According to the report, a 56 page document is being finalized and will be ready to be presented as legislation towards the end of the week.
The legislation would seek to reaffirm an August 2011 Colombian Supreme Court ruling that possession of personal quantities of drugs was a constitutional right.
The report said Colombia was the first South American country to allow personal consumption when it decriminalized possession of small quantities of drugs in 1994. Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe later banned the legal carrying of small amounts of drugs, but this was overruled by Colombia’s Supreme Court.
The document proposes a five gram personal limit on Marijuana and a one gram limit on substances like Cocaine and Crack. The document also introduces substances not covered by the Supreme Court ruling such as Methamphetamines and Ecstasy.
Santos has repeatedly called for a reanalysis of the “drug war,” and welcomed the US decision to discuss the issue at next month’s Summit of the Americas in Cartagena.
