Colombia Plans to Legalize Medicinal Marijuana Under a Government Decree

The decree will approve the therapeutic use of marijuana according to the president office's information sheet. Reuters reported, President Juan Manuel Santos also told BBC Mundo the decree will be "signed in the coming days."

Hold up, before Colombians begin celebrating or condemning the government, to each his own, growing, distributing, and selling cannabis will remain illegal.

Justice Minister Yesid Reyes advised recreational use of the drug is definitely not going to be part of the decree, reports International Business Times. "Nobody is talking about legalizing anything except for these two purposes," he said.

However, the current law which allows possession of up to 20 grams of marijuana or 20 plants for personal use looks to remain unaffected by the decree.

The decree will also set-up a "groundbreaking national "export license" to ship cannabis products to other countries where it's legal," points out International Business times.

TeleSUR explained, the new law seemed to have hit a bit of a snafu when it was revealed the decree could be overturned by future governments. However TeleSUR pointed out, Colombian Ministry of Health affirmed that it is taking the necessary steps to guarantee that the bill will "stay alive" through future governments.

The decree comes just after the government called off aerial fumigations of the controversial crops. As Reuters writes, "The South American country suspended spraying of illicit crops this year, citing cancer concerns related to the herbicide glyphosate."

Reportedly the new bill came as a shock to some people in the country which has been considered the "epicenter for the U.S. - backed war on drugs, which has turned into a violent battle between drug traffickers and increasingly militarized police forces in an effort to control the drug trade."

The Inspector General, Alejandro Ordonez, said he will inspect the decree before it is in effect because it ""weakens the fight against drugs and threatens the young, children and families in every part of the country."

When the decree is instated Colombia will join Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Israel, and a few states in the United States in allowing medical marijuana use.