Should Venezuela legalize marijuana?

Regional political changes are a window of opportunity to fully legalize marijuana in Venezuela and other countries south of the U.S. border. Done properly it could lead to ending marijuana smuggling in the Western Hemisphere.

Marijuana in Venezuela is currently illegal in all its forms, medical and recreational. In 2010 penalties were softened so that up to 20 grams of marijuana and up to 5 grams of “genetically modified marijuana” for personal use did not land a person in jail. Revocation of a person’s driver’s license is still possible. Trafficking cannabis is punished with one-to-two years in prison. Venezuela’s marijuana penalties exceed many of those currently found in most parts of the United States. Venezuelans convicted of possessing small amounts are sentenced to a stint in rehab, or sent to therapy, forced to do community service, or directed to a social reintegration program, as if anyone really wants to reintegrate into extreme poverty and the insanity of marijuana prohibition. Eighty-seven percent of Venezuelans lived below the poverty line as of 2017. A domestic marijuana industry would boost the local economy by creating new jobs and boosting tourism.

Latin American countries more lenient on marijuana than Venezuela include Uruguay, the first country in the world to legalize marijuana. It has state licensed cannabis pharmacies, home cultivation, and marijuana social clubs. Argentina allows personal possession and medical use. Home cultivation is legal. Brazil has national legal decriminalization for users, plus a medical regime. In Colombia personal use is acceptable. Ecuador does not see drug consumption as a crime, only a health issue. In Mexico small amounts of cannabis for personal use are legal. Mexico’s Supreme Court rulings have declared marijuana prohibition unconstitutional. Medical cannabis is legal and regulated. In Chili cannabis is illegal, but small amounts for personal use are tolerated, and medical use is legal and regulated. Bolivia prohibits medical and recreational use of cannabis. The Bolivian state’s focus is more on coca leaf regulation than cannabis liberalization.

Moving the clock forward by liberating cannabis in Venezuela would be the least the U.S. could do to compensate Venezuelans now that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has employed deadly and unwarranted force on Venezuelan boats to create blurry photo-op propaganda as a way to justify siphoning off the country’s huge oil reserves so it only ships oil to those the President chooses. If Donald Trump is really in charge of Venezuela as he claims, it should be a straight-forward task for him to persuade the country to change its marijuana laws. Liberating cannabis in Venezuela would provide a template for doing the same in Latin American countries where marijuana use is still restricted in ways that deprive citizens of the plant’s health and anxiety-reducing benefits.

President Trump says he wants to end all wars. If so he should take a closer look at ending drug wars. A Western Hemisphere that frees the weed will also free itself of marijuana smuggling and its related problems. Domestic production and local consumption of marijuana will assure a lasting drug peace. Ending cannabis smuggling could ease international tensions by giving the President one less excuse to invade the next hapless foreign country. If nothing else he does succeeds, fully legalizing marijuana in the West would finally give Donald Trump some undying appreciation.

Neither President Trump nor anyone else seemed concerned when the Ukraine legalized cannabis for medical, industrial, and scientific use in a bill it passed on August 6, 2024. The Ukraine is presently the only Eastern European country to have legalized medical marijuana. Ukrainian President Zelensky signed a bill during the war with Russia after debate and major public opinion shifts when it became clear that marijuana was useful in the treatment of PTSD suffered by soldiers at the front lines. Recreational use in the Ukraine is still prohibited.

Vladimir Putin and Russian laws prohibit citizens and Russian soldiers from using cannabis (THC) in any form, even if it comes as CBD slightly tainted with THC. This is a mistake. Russian military forces risk being demoralized and disadvantaged in combat with Ukrainians. Russia’s fate could end up being exemplified by a 17th-century English parable popularized by Benjamin Franklin:

For want of a nail the shoe was lost;

For want of a shoe the horse was lost;

For want of a horse the rider was lost;

For want of a rider the battle was lost;

For want of a battle the kingdom was lost;

And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.