A measure that would legalize cannabis for adult use in Colombia was advanced by lawmakers this week. The approval of the legalization measure by the First Committee of the House of Representatives is the first of several steps that are required for the measure to become law in the South American country.

“The initiative is led by Alejandro Ocampo, representative to the Chamber of the Historical Pact, who emphasized that his proposal seeks to protect children from these products, as well as counteract the illegal market for this psychoactive substance.” reported Infobae in its original coverage (translated from Spanish to English).

“I would like to thank the First Committee for allowing our bill on cannabis to advance to its second debate. This represents an opportunity to continue building a more responsible policy focused on the protection of youth.” Representative Alejandro Ocampo wrote in a social media post (translated from Spanish to English).

Quiero agradecerle a la Comisión Primera por permitir que nuestro proyecto de ley sobre cannabis avance a segundo debate.
Esto representa una oportunidad para seguir construyendo una política más responsable y enfocada en la protección de la juventud. pic.twitter.com/7gaTCNG0yC

— Alejandro Ocampo (@alejoocampog) May 12, 2026

As the bill is currently written, it would do the following:

• Create a regulatory framework for the production, marketing, and sale of cannabis for adult use
• Establish strict child protection measures, public health policies, and strategies to combat illegal economies
• Levy a 20% tax on cannabis, applied to the gross sales price
• Require that 50% of cannabis be produced by ‘ethnic and peasant associations with a long-standing tradition’
• Reserve 70% of cultivation licenses for those communities

However, before the global cannabis community gets too excited about the proposal advancing, it is important to take into account the historical context involved.

“The bill will have its second debate in the plenary session of the House of Representatives, and if approved, it will go to the Senate. However, the tight parliamentary schedule could complicate the process, so it might be postponed until the next legislative session, which begins on July 20, 2026.” Infobae writes. “This is the ninth initiative discussed in Congress since 2020. However, all proposals were shelved during their legislative process.”

Hopefully this latest proposal becomes the one that succeeds. Currently, the only country in South America that has adopted a national adult-use legalization measure is Uruguay. Uruguay legalized cannabis for adult use in 2013. Since then, Canada, Malta, Luxembourg, Germany, South Africa, and Czechia have also adopted national legalization measures.