"Alcohol may be more dangerous than marijuana," said Thursday the Minister of Health of Colombia, Alejandro Gaviria , reiterating the government's support to an initiative being debated in Congress to allow the medical use of cannabis.
At a hearing in Bogota that started the four debates needed to pass the bill, Gaviria said that "marijuana may be safer than alcohol if one takes into account all the results of public health" and cited a study published three years ago by the British medical journal The Lancet.
"We will give an evidence-based debate," he insisted.
The bill proposed by the ruling Liberal Party Senator Juan Manuel Galán, son of presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galán, murdered by drug traffickers in 1989, has the backing of President Juan Manuel Santos .
"We welcome the initiative on medical and therapeutic use of marijuana. Understand it to be a practical, compassionate measure to reduce pain and anxiety of patients with terminal illnesses," he said in August.
Several lawmakers of the Democratic Center, the main opposition party led by former President Alvaro Uribe, and Attorney Alejandro Ordóñez, to monitor public officials reject the rule that argues that could open the door to full legalization of drugs.
"This bill seeks to regulate the medicinal and therapeutic use of cannabis , which has nothing to do with recreational use," said Galán to reporters .
In Colombia, consumption and sale of marijuana is prohibited. However, in 2012 the possession of 20 grams of cannabis is decriminalized personal dose.
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