Colombia looks set to become the second Latin American country to legalize and regulate marijuana for medicinal use.

A decree (read here, in Spanish) outlining the regulation of the cultivation, production, distribution, possession and use of cannabis for medical and scientific purposes has been signed by the country's ministers of health, agriculture and justice, and now only awaits the signature of the president, Juan Manuel Santos, to become law. The decree was first reported by Blu Radio.

Based on his past comments regarding medical marijuana, there seems little reason for Santos to reject the decree, having stated in August last year: "[This is] a way of beginning to strip from the hands of criminals the role of intermediary between the patient and the substance that allows them to relieve their suffering."

The proposed law additionally lays out the role of the country's National Drugs Council (Consejo Nacional de Estupefacientes - CNE) in any regulatory model, handing licensing responsibilities to the agency for cultivation of the plant. Exportation of medical marijuana will also be permitted should the decree receive Santos' approval, though only to markets where it is currently legal.

Legalization of medical marijuana was first proposed last year when Senator Juan Manuel Galan put a bill before the Senate where it passed with ease before heading to Congress. It had initially been hoped that the law would pass in the summer of 2015.

Uruguay is the only country in Latin America to have legalized marijuana nationally, both for recreational and medical use. Chile, which last year passed a law allowing cannabis cultivation for medicinal purposes for a group of 200 patients in Santiago, is set to expand their existing program.