Law 1787 of 2016
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| Type | Law |
|---|---|
| Number | Ley 1787 de 2016 |
| Jurisdiction | Colombia |
| Enacted by | Congress of Colombia |
| Adopted | 6 July 2016 (sanction) |
| Place | Bogotá |
| In force from | 6 July 2016 (on promulgation) |
| Status | In force |
|---|---|
| Amended by | Decree-Law 2106 of 2019 (arts. 6 and 8) |
Law 1787 of 2016 (Ley 1787 de 2016) is the Colombian statute that sets the legal framework for the medical and scientific use of cannabis. Its object is "el acceso seguro e informado al uso médico y científico del cannabis y sus derivados" (safe and informed access to the medical and scientific use of cannabis and its derivatives) in Colombia, and it places the growing, production, trade, possession and use of cannabis seed, cannabis and its derivatives for those purposes under the control of the state.[1] President Juan Manuel Santos signed it in Bogotá on 6 July 2016, and it took effect on promulgation, in the Diario Oficial of the same day.[2] Its title presents it as a law "por medio de la cual se reglamenta el Acto Legislativo 02 de 2009" (by which Acto Legislativo 02 of 2009 is regulated), the constitutional amendment that prohibited carrying and consuming narcotic or psychotropic substances except on medical prescription.[1][3] It exempts licensed medical and scientific use of cannabis from the penalties of three articles of the Penal Code.[4]
Background
Law 30 of 1986, the national narcotics statute, already limited the growing of the plants from which narcotic drugs are produced to medical and scientific ends, under licence from the National Narcotics Council.[5] Decree 2467 of 22 December 2015, issued under those articles, set up licences for growing cannabis plants, holding seed for sowing and producing, manufacturing and exporting cannabis derivatives for strictly medical and scientific ends.[6]
Luis Felipe Cruz Olivera and Isabel Pereira Arana, of the Bogotá research centre Dejusticia, trace the law to a bill presented by the Liberal senator Juan Manuel Galán to regulate the 2009 amendment and medical cannabis. In their account the bill lacked support in Congress at the end of 2014, moved slowly through 2015, and its debate turned more on the interests of investors from countries such as Canada and Israel than on patients' health. The government issued Decree 2467 before the bill had passed, and two manufacturing licences went to multinational companies under it.[7]: 128–129
Cannabis in the text
Definitions
Article 2 gives four definitions "en materia de cannabis" (on the subject of cannabis):[8]
- Sustancia psicoactiva (psychoactive substance): any natural or synthetic substance, lawful or not, which on entering the living organism can produce dependence or tolerance or alter mental action, causing a change in judgement, behaviour or mood.
- Estupefaciente (narcotic drug): any of the substances listed in Schedule I or II of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by its 1972 Protocol, classed as such in the international conventions and adopted by Colombian law.
- Planta de cannabis (cannabis plant): "toda planta del género cannabis" (every plant of the genus Cannabis).
- Cannabis: "las sumidades, floridas o con fruto, de la planta de cannabis (a excepción de las semillas y las hojas no unidas a las sumidades) de las cuales no se ha extraído la resina, cualquiera que sea el nombre con que se las designe" (the flowering or fruiting tops of the cannabis plant, except the seeds and the leaves not attached to the tops, from which the resin has not been extracted, by whatever name they are called). Psychoactive cannabis is cannabis whose tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content equals or exceeds the limit the government sets in its regulations.[8]
Growing, seed and licences
Article 3 commits the state to control and regulate "las actividades de cultivo, producción, fabricación, adquisición a cualquier título, importación, exportación, almacenamiento, transporte, comercialización, distribución, uso y posesión de las semillas de la planta de cannabis, del cannabis, de sus derivados y de los productos que lo contengan con fines medicinales y científicos". The ministries of Justice, Health and Agriculture are to regulate these activities jointly, "entendiendo que se levanta con la expedición de esta ley las prohibiciones que sobre la materia existan a nivel nacional" (on the understanding that with the issue of this law the prohibitions on the subject at the national level are lifted).[1]
The law divides the licences between two authorities. Article 5 gives a sub-directorate of the Ministry of Justice the licences for the seed of the cannabis plant and for growing cannabis plants up to the final disposal of the harvest.[9] Article 6, as amended in 2019, gives the licences for cannabis derivatives and the products that contain them to the Instituto Nacional de Vigilancia de Medicamentos y Alimentos (Invima), the national regulator of medicines and food.[10] Article 4 adds the Ministry of Agriculture to the National Narcotics Council created by Law 30.[4] Licences are monitored on an administrative and an operational side, with the support of the Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA) and, where needed, the armed forces or the police (art. 7). Applicants and licence holders pay for evaluation and monitoring (arts. 8–10), and a licence may be suspended or ended, or a fine imposed, when its holder breaks its terms (art. 11).[9]
Small growers and rural communities
Three paragraphs of article 3 speak to growers outside the large companies. The state is to design the mechanisms for economic initiatives of production, processing and distribution of cannabis products for medical and scientific ends "que desarrollen las comunidades campesinas, y los pueblos y comunidades indígenas" (carried out by peasant communities and by indigenous peoples and communities). It must "proteger y fortalecer a los pequeños y medianos cultivadores, productores y comercializadores nacionales de cannabis medicinal" (protect and strengthen small and medium national growers, producers and traders of medical cannabis), and the programmes for substituting illicit crops are to include initiatives for planting, formalising and promoting associations of small and medium growers of cannabis for exclusively medical and scientific ends. The government was to regulate this paragraph within six months. Licensing is also to protect national industry and local labour.[1]
Penal Code
Articles 12, 13 and 14 add the same sentence to articles 375, 376 and 377 of the Penal Code: "Las sanciones previstas en este artículo, no aplicarán para el uso médico y científico del cannabis siempre y cuando se tengan las licencias otorgadas" (the penalties in this article shall not apply to the medical and scientific use of cannabis provided that the licences granted are held).[4]
Other provisions
Article 15 asks the Ministry of Education to run prevention programmes in schools that inform pupils about the effects of cannabis and other substances, funded by a contribution from those who carry on the commercial activities the law regulates. Under article 16, the parents or guardians of a patient under age are to be told the risks and benefits of medical cannabis before they authorise products with psychoactive components. Article 17 sets up a technical commission to follow the regulation. Article 18 gave the government two years from the law's sanction to issue its regulations, and holders of licences under earlier rules one year from the technical regulation to comply. Article 19 repeals all contrary provisions "en materia de cannabis" (on the subject of cannabis).[2]
Amendment history
Decree-Law 2106 of 2019 rewrote article 6, moving the licences for derivatives from the Ministry of Health to Invima,[10] and rewrote article 8 on fees; Decree 635 of 2023 corrected the new article 8. Decree 1830 of 2016 corrected paragraph 3 of article 3, which ties the ministries' reports to the commission of article 17.[11]
Implementation
Decree 613 of 10 April 2017 regulated the law. It set four kinds of licence, for the use of seed, for growing psychoactive cannabis, for growing non-psychoactive cannabis and for manufacturing derivatives, each valid for five years and open to recertification for equal periods, and drew the line between psychoactive and non-psychoactive cannabis at 1 per cent THC by dry weight. It defined self-cultivation (autocultivo) as no more than 20 plants grown solely for personal use and left it outside licensing. A chapter on small and medium growers let them prove possession of their land by sworn declaration and provided for adapted security requirements and technical advice to their associations.[12] According to Cruz Olivera and Pereira Arana, it replaced Decree 2467 with a transition for licensing begun under the earlier decree, and a further decree of 2017 defined small and medium growers as natural persons with no more than 0.5 hectares under cannabis.[7]: 129, 134–135
Decree 811 of 23 July 2021, issued in development of the law, replaced those rules. Its scope covers seed, plant material, plants and psychoactive and non-psychoactive cannabis and derivatives for medical and scientific ends, and non-psychoactive seed, plant material, grain and derivatives for industrial, horticultural and food uses. It kept self-cultivation of up to 20 plants outside licensing.[13] Decree 1138 of 27 October 2025 admitted the cannabis flower as a finished product for medical use.[14]
Hemp for industrial use has its own statute, Law 2204 of 2022, which does not apply to medical, scientific or adult use of cannabis.[15]
Effect on cultivation
Cruz Olivera and Pereira Arana write that the licensing model centres on pharmaceutical-grade medicines and that the capital and infrastructure needed for a licence are very high. Although the regulations mention small and medium growers, in their view the threshold for entry is very high and modelled on a medical perspective.[7]: 131 They add that, after the law, Colombia asked the International Narcotics Control Board for a quota of 40.5 tonnes of cannabis for 2017, against 40 grams in 2016.[7]: 131 In their reading the measures in the regulations do not secure the economic inclusion of peasant and indigenous growers that the law called for.[7]: 134
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Por medio de la cual se reglamenta el Acto Legislativo 02 de 2009(Ley No. 1787), 6 July 2016, arts. 1 and 3 (Diario Oficial No. 49.926, 6 July 2016).Colombia.Retrieved 15 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Por medio de la cual se reglamenta el Acto Legislativo 02 de 2009(Ley No. 1787), 6 July 2016, arts. 15–19 and the sanction (Diario Oficial No. 49.926, 6 July 2016).Colombia.Retrieved 2 November 2026.
- ↑ Por el cual se reforma el artículo 49 de la Constitución Política(Acto Legislativo No. 02), 21 December 2009, art. 1 (Diario Oficial No. 47.570, 21 December 2009).Colombia.Retrieved 1 November 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Por medio de la cual se reglamenta el Acto Legislativo 02 de 2009(Ley No. 1787), 6 July 2016, arts. 4 and 12–14 (Diario Oficial No. 49.926, 6 July 2016).Colombia.Retrieved 2 November 2026.
- ↑ Por la cual se adopta el Estatuto Nacional de Estupefacientes y se dictan otras disposiciones(Ley No. 30), 31 January 1986, arts. 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 89 (Diario Oficial No. 37.335, 5 February 1986).Colombia.Retrieved 15 October 2026.
- ↑ Por el cual se reglamentan los aspectos de que tratan los artículos 3, 5, 6 y 8 de la Ley 30 de 1986(Decreto No. 2467), 22 December 2015, arts. 1 and 3 (Diario Oficial No. 49.734, 22 December 2015).Colombia, Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social.Retrieved 15 October 2026.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Cruz Olivera, Luis Felipe; Pereira Arana, Isabel (November 2021). "Limpiando a María: abrir el mercado para la marihuana medicinal en Colombia". Laberintos de prohibición y regulación: los grises de la marihuana en Colombia. Colección Dejusticia (in español). Bogotá: Editorial Dejusticia. pp. 126–145. ISBN 978-958-5597-98-3.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Por medio de la cual se reglamenta el Acto Legislativo 02 de 2009(Ley No. 1787), 6 July 2016, art. 2 (Diario Oficial No. 49.926, 6 July 2016).Colombia.Retrieved 2 November 2026.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Por medio de la cual se reglamenta el Acto Legislativo 02 de 2009(Ley No. 1787), 6 July 2016, arts. 5 and 7–11 (Diario Oficial No. 49.926, 6 July 2016).Colombia.Retrieved 2 November 2026.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Por medio de la cual se reglamenta el Acto Legislativo 02 de 2009(Ley No. 1787), 6 July 2016, arts. 6 (as amended by Decreto Ley 2106 de 2019, art. 85) and 12 (Diario Oficial No. 49.926, 6 July 2016).Colombia.Retrieved 1 November 2026.
- ↑ Por medio de la cual se reglamenta el Acto Legislativo 02 de 2009(Ley No. 1787), 6 July 2016, notes of validity to art. 3, par. 3, and art. 8 (Diario Oficial No. 49.926, 6 July 2016).Colombia.Retrieved 2 November 2026.
- ↑ Por el cual se reglamenta la Ley 1787 de 2016 y se subroga el Título 11 de la Parte 8 del Libro 2 del Decreto 780 de 2016, en relación con el acceso seguro e informado al uso médico y científico del cannabis(Decreto No. 613), 10 April 2017, art. 1 (Título 11, arts. 2.8.11.1.3, 2.8.11.2.1.2, 2.8.11.2.1.3 and 2.8.11.10.1–2.8.11.10.5).Colombia, Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social.Retrieved 2 November 2026.
- ↑ Por el cual se sustituye el Título 11 de la Parte 8 del Libro 2 del Decreto 780 de 2016, Único Reglamentario del Sector Salud y Protección Social, en relación con el acceso seguro e informado al uso del cannabis y de la planta de cannabis(Decreto No. 811), 23 July 2021, arts. 2.8.11.1.1, 2.8.11.1.3 (num. 7) and 2.8.11.2.1.2 (par.) (Diario Oficial No. 51.744, 23 July 2021).Colombia, Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social.Retrieved 15 October 2026.
- ↑ Por medio del cual se modifica parcialmente el Título 11 de la Parte 8 del Libro 2 del Decreto 780 de 2016, Único Reglamentario del Sector Salud y Protección Social, en relación con el acceso seguro e informado al uso del cannabis y de la planta de cannabis(Decreto No. 1138), 27 October 2025, arts. 1, 3, 4, 13, 16 and 17.Colombia, Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social.Retrieved 15 October 2026.
- ↑ Por la cual se crea el marco legal para el uso industrial y científico del cáñamo en Colombia y se dictan otras disposiciones(Ley No. 2204), 10 May 2022, arts. 1 and 2 (Diario Oficial No. 52.030, 10 May 2022).Colombia.Retrieved 15 October 2026.