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Colombian president discusses releasing cannabis prisoners and legally exporting the drug

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Petro compared the country’s possible cannabis market with that of Canada

Publishing date:

Aug 17, 2022 • 38 minutes ago • 2 minute read • Join the conversation

FILE: Colombian President Gustavo Petro speaks gestures during a press conference with his Chilean counterpart Gabriel Boric in Casa Narino palace in Bogota, on Aug. 8, 2022. / Photo by JUAN BARRETO/AFP via Getty Images

Gustavo Petro, the newly elected president of Colombia, is talking about potentially legalizing cannabis during his first weeks in office.

Regarding those who’ve been incarcerated due to cannabis-related offences, Petro said: “If we’re going to legalize cannabis, are we going to allow all of those people who’ve been imprisoned to remain in jail? Or is it time to release those people?”

This marks one of the first instances where Petro refers to cannabis by its name, and shares some of the benefits and consequences of legalizing the drug.

In July, the Colombian senate introduced a legalization bill that provided a plan for legalizing the plant’s adult use and that could also provide some income for the country.

In Petro’s inaugural speech, he called for taking back drug policies that have long harmed the country and have caused deaths, as well as increased the drug problem all over Latin America.

“For peace to be possible in Colombia, we need dialogue and understanding, to look for common paths and produce changes,” he said. “Peace is possible if you change, for example, the politics against drugs.”

“It’s time for a new international convention that accepts that the War on Drugs has failed,” he said. “Of course, peace is possible. But it depends on current drug policies being substituted with strong measures that prevent consumption in developed societies.”

Petro was elected as president this past June 19. He is the first president of Colombia to be a part of the left and is a polarizing figure, having been a part of M-19, a Colombian guerrilla group.

The FreshToast.com, a U.S. lifestyle site that contributes lifestyle content and, with their partnership with 600,000 physicians via Skipta, medical marijuana information to The GrowthOp.

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