Colombia

Overview of drug laws and legislative trends in Colombia.

Trend

In 1994, the Colombian Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional the punishment for possession of amounts for personal use. Since then, adults can possess up to 20 grams of marijuana and one gram of cocaine, among other substances, for consumption in the privacy of their homes without fear of any penal sanctions.

In July 2009, the Supreme Court overruled an October 2008 sentence imposed to a man arrested for possession of 1.3 grams of cocaine. The man had been sentenced to 64 months in prison and needed to pay a fine. The Court ordered his immediate release, an indication that the 1-gram threshold is not the only criteria to be considered.

As the exception to the rule, and counter to the trend in Latin America, President Alvaro Uribe had been trying for several years to re-penalize possession for personal use in Colombia. On December 10, 2009, Congress amended the Constitution to prohibit drug use and possession. Only administrative sanctions will be applicable.

The Constitution had to be amended in order to overrule the 1994 Constitutional Court decision.

Law

The Constitutional Court’ sentence C-221 ruled that prohibiting drug consumption violates Colombia’s constitutional right to the “free development of personality.”

The Supreme Court of Justice reconfirmed in July 2009, the 1994 ruling of the Constitutional Court, by determining that the possession of drugs for personal use “cannot be the object of any punishment,” when the incident occurred “in the exercise of his personal and private rights, [and] the accused did not harm others.”

In December 2009, the Colombian Congresses amended the Constitution to prohibit drug consumption. Article 49 of the Constitution will now read:

“Possession and consumption of narcotic and psychotropic substances is prohibited, with the exception of medical prescriptions. With prevention and rehabilitation in mind, the law will establish administrative measures and treatment of an educational, prophylactic or therapeutic nature for those who consume such substances. The referral to these measures and treatment will require the informed consent of the addict.”

Drug Laws and Prisons in Colombia

During the 20^th century, drug policies in Colombia were increasingly repressive, largely ineffective, and heavily influenced by the international legal framework that was put in place. In effect, in just a few years Colombia went from having a scattered set of regulations, with an emphasis on prevention and medical-administrative treatment, to having legislation abundant in definitions of criminal conduct and sanctions that included the full drug cycle, from production through marketing and trafficking to consumption.

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Prohibition, a backwards step

In December 2009, the Congress in Colombia passed a reform to the 1991 Constitution, which considered the possession and consumption of certain quantities of drugs for personal use legal, to enact constitutional prohibition. This briefing shows the changes that this constitutional amendment entails and evaluates the principle potential consequences.

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