Failed drug war? Make it legal says Guatemala’s president

[Judi Lynn]

Failed drug war? Make it legal says Guatemala’s president
Published: Sunday, March 31, 2013
Mark Wilson

“The struggle against drugs, in the way it has been conducted, has failed. That is a fact,” Guatemala’s president Otto Pérez Molina told the Observer newspaper in Britain on his way to this year’s World Economic Forum in Switzerland.

"We are talking about the security forces, public prosecutors, judges. Drug money has penetrated these institutions." A former hardline director of military intelligence, he is no liberal softy.

"The proposal is decriminalisation," he told a Central American summit last March "We are talking about creating a legal framework to regulate the production, transit and consumption of drugs."

Note well: he is talking about trafficking. Not just a back-pocket spliff for personal use. And a regulated regime for all drugs; not just marijuana.

He is not the only one to want a re-think. "The war on drugs has failed,” said Global Commission on Drug Policy in an eye-catching opener for its 2011 report. Members included a former UN secretary general Kofi Annan, former US secretary of state George Shultz and former presidents of Mexico, Brazil and Colombia.

More:
http://guardian.co.tt/columnist/2013-03-31/failed-drug-war-make-it-legal-says-guatemala%E2%80%99s-president

[naaman fletcher]

1. Great post.

Along with Santos, leading the way for drug law reform. Perhaps now that Chavez is dead Venezuela can get on board as well. Has anyone seen any comments that Maduro has made on the subject?

[Bacchus4.0]

2. Venezuela is the new drug hub yet the government pretends

they are combating drugs. According to their information minister, the US has a TOLERANT attitude towards durgs.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/06/venezuela-bans-family-guy_n_311213.html


The Venezuelan government highlighted the clip as an example of how the U.S. government promotes pot smoking and the legalization of drugs. Venezuela resented a recent U.S. Congress report that said a fourfold increase in cocaine smuggling through Venezuela has been aided by police corruption and a refusal to work with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.


"There's no subliminal messages here," said Interior and Justice Minister Tarek El Assaimi, who warned that the government would fine any TV station that continues to broadcast the show. "It's an animated cartoon where you can observe perfectly how they promote consumption and moreover sponsor the consumption of marijuana."

El Aissami blamed U.S. drug consumption for fueling Venezuela's narco-trafficking market and suggested that "adult" cartoons such as "Family Guy" were mouthpieces for the U.S. government's tolerant attitude toward drugs.

"Family Guy" is not the first cartoon to receive short shrift from authorities in Venezuela. Last year, "The Simpsons" was banned from terrestrial television after it was ruled "unsuitable" for children. It was replaced with "Baywatch," the 1990s series featuring scantily-clad lifeguards in California.

[idwiyo]

3. K&R