With the new legislation regarding access to cannabis for scientific and medicinal purposes stipulated in Law 1787 of 2016, regulated by Decree 613 of 2017, a new scenario opens up within the Colombian reality: the use of psychoactive substances by minors as an alternative and palliative form of management for their conditions.
Regarding chronic and terminal diseases, Law 1733 of 2014 stipulates that a patient in the terminal phase is one who has been diagnosed with a severe pathological disease of an irreversible nature and for whom there is no medical treatment of proven efficacy. On the other hand, this same law stipulates that a chronic disease is one that causes a severe, progressive, and insurmountable loss of quality of life. Thus, it can be understood that all individuals presenting a clinical picture with the characteristics described above are susceptible to being treated with medical cannabis.
But what happens when the person who is terminally ill is a minor? Regarding such questions that concern society, Decree 613 of 2017, in its Article 2.8.11.5.2, sets out the scenario in which minors may access cannabis as an alternative treatment for their diseases.
Thus, the final paragraph of the aforementioned article regulates access to medical cannabis by minors upon the fulfillment of three requirements: (i) suffering from a terminal and chronic disease, (ii) the alternative treatment with medical cannabis derives from a medical prescription, and (iii) the informed consent of parents or guardians is obtained.
Currently, and upon meeting these three requirements, minors may access the use of medical cannabis. In Colombia, the first medical cases of children treated with medical cannabis have been for epilepsy, with these cases having positive influences on the health of the minors.
Given this authorization and regulation offered by the legislator, new scenarios of debate have opened up within Colombian society. There are several, such as former Senator Galán, proponent and promoter of the bill, who maintain that the implementation of this regulation as a way to regulate and control access to medical cannabis is an alternative that does not pose a risk to children but rather will help them find relief and an improvement in their quality of life when treating diseases such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, among others.
On the other hand, there are some more conservative positions that consider that this type of use of psychoactive substances by minors will cause consumption among minors to increase much more, as they would conclude that marijuana is so good that by smoking it they are preventing cancer, epilepsy, asthma, among others.
At the moment, the scenario in Colombia is still very young regarding the use of medical cannabis in minors. Currently, it has only been regulated in the three sections indicated above, but as the needs and reality of minors with terminal and chronic diseases in Colombia advance, so will the legislation change and seek to respond to social needs.