Colombia legalizes medicinal cannabis flowers for local residents and export

Colombian President Ivan Duque signed a decree on July 23 that lifts the export ban on dried cannabis flowers – and investors abroad are taking note.

“Colombia is starting to play a major role, and with this decree we are at the forefront of regulatory competitiveness, at least in Latin America and the Caribbean,” said Duque, praising the move in the pharmaceutical market. “We’re opening up the space to do a lot more in cosmetics … [including] Food and beverages and even textiles. ”

Colombia had passed a law in 2016 regulating the production, distribution, sale and export of seeds, topicals and other cannabis products, but had previously banned the export of dried cannabis flowers, fearing that such a move would make the flow more legal Measures would enable cannabis products to be put on the black market.

Decree 811 of 2021 amends an earlier law regulating the commercialization of medicinal cannabis, Justice Minister Wilson Ruiz said. The new law allows manufacturers to make oils, extracts, textiles, or foods that contain non-psychoactive cannabis – the country’s relative equivalent of hemp – as long as the biomass of the products contains less than one percent THC.

International companies participate in the Colombian cannabis reform

Since Colombia’s medical cannabis market is not fully developed, the majority of medical cannabis ends up in various international markets such as the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Israel.

“The lifting of the export ban on dried flowers will set in motion a regulatory process that we hope will be carried out in great detail to the highest international standards,” Juan Diego Alvarez, vice president of regulation for cannabis producer Khiron, told Reuters.

President Duque signed the decree at an event organized at a facility by Clever Leaves, one of the 18 multinationals investing and growing medical cannabis in Colombia.

“The change in policy by the Colombian government could double our addressable market from Colombia, a region where Clever Leaves has made significant capacity investments but where we have previously only been able to sell processed or extracted products,” said Clever. Leaves CEO, in a press release. “Nevertheless, since 2016 we have been building the skills that are required to manufacture a pharmaceutical-grade product.”

Clever Leaves will likely take advantage of the expanded ability to export dried cannabis flowers using its 1.8 million square foot CUMCS GACP certified grow facility, its EUGMP Part II certification for dry flower production, and its 30+ cannabinoid genetics that are registered in the country.

“This regulatory move will enable us to better serve our customers around the world by benefiting from Latin America’s only EU-GMP-certified cannabis operation, which, to the great surprise of many, already includes EU-GMP-certified dried flower production.”

A safer harvest for Colombia

Latin American cannabis exports could be worth up to $ 6 billion, the president said. A regulated industry would remove some of the need for deadly drug eradication tactics.

A regulated medicinal cannabis bloom could also help fight cocaine production – a much better option than spraying coca fields with potentially carcinogenic substances, which Bogotá is trying to do in the face of a surge in cocaine production.

The Financial Times reports that cocaine production is a bigger – no smaller – problem in the region than it was in the 1990s. In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) described the active ingredient glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic for humans”. Between 2012 and 2017, coca production rose over 250 percent, according to the United Nations, and despite numerous efforts by President Duque, little progress has been made as coca production continues to flourish.
For decades, paraquat poisoning on cannabis and coca plantations – sometimes with the involvement of US DEA agents – has left long-term health effects on Colombians.

Colombia is on the verge of becoming a major exporter of medicinal cannabis in Latin America.