Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Juan Manuel Santos: As Colombia’s leader, I know we must rethink the drugs war
Source: The Observer
As Colombia’s leader, I know we must rethink the drugs war
Juan Manuel Santos
Saturday 16 April 2016 21.00 BST
How does one explain to a Colombian peasant in a rural community in the south-west of the country that he will be prosecuted under criminal charges for growing marijuana plants, while a young entrepreneur in Colorado finds his or her legal recreational marijuana business booming?
This is perhaps the most glaring paradox in the global debate over the “war on drugs”. A war that on most counts shows little progress if contrasted with the amount of time, blood and treasure invested by so many nations with a view to dismantling a business that remains as strong and active as it was half a century ago.
During this period, Colombia has lost many of its best political leaders, policemen and soldiers, judges and prosecutors, in a relentless war against drug barons and their violent criminal organisations. Significant achievements have been made in terms of dismantling drug cartels, bringing to justice one drug kingpin after another, limiting their power, reducing the marijuana, coca and poppy cultivation, as well as the production of cocaine and heroin. But our gains have become other countries’ losses. Drug traffickers adapt and change, making progress reversible.
Starting on 18 April, the United Nations is to hold a special session of its general assembly to address these issues, and Colombia will be there to present its view forcefully, at a crucial juncture in the country’s history.
In this context, Colombia is close to reaching an agreement to end the 60-year armed conflict with Farc, the world’s longest-running guerilla insurgency – an agreement that is of special relevance to this discourse on the war on drugs. In post-conflict Colombia, Farc will change roles, from being an obstacle for effective action against drugs to a key ally of the government in contributing to illicit crops substitution, provision of information of routes and production facilities and de-mining efforts to facilitate eradication of coca production. That in itself is a game changer.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Juan Manuel Santos
Saturday 16 April 2016 21.00 BST
How does one explain to a Colombian peasant in a rural community in the south-west of the country that he will be prosecuted under criminal charges for growing marijuana plants, while a young entrepreneur in Colorado finds his or her legal recreational marijuana business booming?
This is perhaps the most glaring paradox in the global debate over the “war on drugs”. A war that on most counts shows little progress if contrasted with the amount of time, blood and treasure invested by so many nations with a view to dismantling a business that remains as strong and active as it was half a century ago.
During this period, Colombia has lost many of its best political leaders, policemen and soldiers, judges and prosecutors, in a relentless war against drug barons and their violent criminal organisations. Significant achievements have been made in terms of dismantling drug cartels, bringing to justice one drug kingpin after another, limiting their power, reducing the marijuana, coca and poppy cultivation, as well as the production of cocaine and heroin. But our gains have become other countries’ losses. Drug traffickers adapt and change, making progress reversible.
Starting on 18 April, the United Nations is to hold a special session of its general assembly to address these issues, and Colombia will be there to present its view forcefully, at a crucial juncture in the country’s history.
In this context, Colombia is close to reaching an agreement to end the 60-year armed conflict with Farc, the world’s longest-running guerilla insurgency – an agreement that is of special relevance to this discourse on the war on drugs. In post-conflict Colombia, Farc will change roles, from being an obstacle for effective action against drugs to a key ally of the government in contributing to illicit crops substitution, provision of information of routes and production facilities and de-mining efforts to facilitate eradication of coca production. That in itself is a game changer.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/16/war-drugs-colombia-un-new-approach