Is Weed Legal in Colombia? Personal Dose and Public Use in 2026

Twenty grams is the number every Colombian knows as the dosis personal. It comes from Law 30 of 1986, and the Constitutional Court made it a protected right in 1994. What has kept changing is everything around it: whether police can take it off you, and where you may light up.

Personal dose

20 g marijuana, 5 g hashish (Law 30 of 1986)

Police seizure or fine for a personal dose

Not allowed since Decree 2114 of 2023

Buying or selling

Illegal; no adult-use shops

Home grow

Up to 20 plants for personal use, per legal guides

Public use

Set by each city within court limits

Medical cannabis

Legal with prescription

What the 20-gram personal dose protects

Possession for your own consumption. Law 30 of 1986 defines the dosis de uso personal as up to 20 g of marijuana and 5 g of hashish, and in ruling C-221 of 1994 the Constitutional Court held that carrying it for personal use cannot be punished.

The number is a guide, not a ceiling. Doc Cannábico's legal summary notes that a 2016 Supreme Court ruling shifted the test to intent: carrying somewhat more is not automatically trafficking if it's for your own use, and carrying less can still be a crime if there is evidence of selling.

What changed in December 2023

Can you smoke weed in public in Colombia?

It depends on the city, the place and sometimes the hour. The Constitutional Court's position since 2019 is that a total ban on public consumption is unconstitutional, but mayors may restrict use where children are likely to be, such as parks, school surroundings and sports venues, as long as the restriction is justified.

Many cities pushed further. The Fundación Ideas para la Paz and partner groups counted more than 30 municipal decrees and agreements in early 2024 that, in their view, broke the court's guidelines, some banning use around the clock across whole cities.

In Cali, breaking the decree brings a fine of 693,333 pesos (16 minimum daily wages) under the National Police Code, Infobae reported. Police there issue 25,000 to 30,000 citations a year for public drug use. Our news report on the Cali and Bogotá cases has the details.

Growing at home

Self-cultivation for personal use sits outside the licensing system as long as nothing is supplied to anyone else, Decree 1138 of 2025 states. Legal guides cite up to 20 plants for personal consumption under Law 30 of 1986, though the legal basis is debated. Selling or giving away seeds, plants or flower from a home grow is not covered.

Rules that catch visitors and residents

• Don't buy on the street — Buying is not protected; the seller is committing a crime and you're funding it.
• Check the local decree — A park that's legal in one city can cost you a 16-day-wage fine in the next.
• Stay away from schools and playgrounds — Every regime, national and local, protects children's spaces.
• Keep it small — Stay within the 20 g figure; larger amounts invite questions about intent to sell.
• Never cross a border with it — Taking cannabis out of Colombia, even a personal dose, can be prosecuted as trafficking.

Will Colombia legalize adult use?

A new bill is moving, slowly. On May 12, 2026 the First Committee of the House of Representatives approved in first debate an ordinary bill to regulate adult-use cannabis, for people 18 and older, with an amendment to keep sales points at least 500 m from schools, according to the House's own news service. It still needs a House floor vote and two Senate debates; we found no later vote by September 2026. Congress has archived all eight earlier attempts since 2020, including a constitutional reform the Senate shelved at its last debate in December 2023.

Medical cannabis is a separate, legal channel: see medical cannabis in Colombia. The industry side is explained in Colombia's cannabis licenses. Country hub: Colombia.