The Legalisation of Marijuana Advances in Chile

This Monday Chile's Health Commission approved an unprecedented bill intended to legalise the individual cultivation of marijuana for therapeutic use and personal consumption. Now the decision must be discussed and voted on by legislators, and the law must be passed by the Senate. 

The socialist representative and president of the Commission, Luis Castro, explained that the objective is not to allow the indiscriminate consumption of cannabis, but to make the plant more accessible when there exist medicinal conditions certified by a doctor and, in the event of recreational use, to establish home cultivation parameters, limiting it to six plants. 

In addition, the idea is for home growers to be at least 18 years of age - except in cases of patients who need it for health reasons, and depending on what a doctor decides. Castro stated that smoking marijuana will never be allowed on the street or in public spaces.

Until now marijuana in Chile has been considered a hard drug. Although its consumption is allowed in private spaces, its sale and cultivation are prohibited. If this law is approved cannabis would be reclassified as a soft drug, like alcohol. 

Now it remains to be seen whether this decision will mollify Chilean cannabis activists. Claudius Venegas, director of the magazine Cáñamo, has stated that, as long as legalisation in Chile does not have real support from the government, progress on an issue like this one could come at a maddening pace. He also believes that, for this reason, this bill marks just the start of a difficult road which, for want of political will, could mean years of debate.