Colombian farmers begin to replace coca crops with cannabis

Defenders of medical cannabis in Colombia ended 2015 with some good news: the president Juan Manuel Santos, signed the decree that regulates the production, selling and exportation of cannabis for medical purposes in the country.

The effects of the new regulation have already begun to be noticed, although erasing the country’s past linked to drug trafficking will still take time. In the Colombian department of Meta, an area traditionally used for the growth of coca, country farmers have begun to grow cannabis.

Having said that, these crops are not authorised, therefore the Colombian National Army has discovered and destroyed around 5,400 cannabis plants in a town in this department. According to the Army’s spokespersons, some of these plantations could belong to criminal gangs.

Peasants may be replacing coca with cannabis because it has more options in terms of “retailing and micro-trafficking”, according to Oswaldo Peña Bermeo, a commander in the Army’s Seventh Brigade. An increase in the cost of chemical processing of coca could be another of the reasons why some people are choosing cannabis.

Meanwhile, the National Drugs Council has just given the green light to the new regulation concerning medical cannabis and is now studying the requirements, conditions and people that will be in charge of the process to grant licenses. There is no doubt that the new decree will contribute to ending illegal crops, as current crops will not be eligible for a license.

Alejandro Gaviria, the Minister for Health, has stated that there is “an emerging global market for medical cannabis” and he expects that this year international companies will come to Colombia in order to grow cannabis in the Latin American country. Little by little, legal cannabis growing could win the war against drug trafficking.