BOGOTA, Colombia - Juan Manuel Santos, the Colombian president, has called for the global legalization of marijuana to help combat the trafficking of harder drugs and related violence. Mr Santos added his voice to a growing list of influential figures in Latin America demanding a rethink of the policies that have been used for decades to fight the drugs trade.
He said legalizing softer drugs such as marijuana worldwide could help improve international efforts to deal with harder drugs such as cocaine and heroin.
"The world needs to discuss new approaches ... we are basically still thinking within the same framework as we have done for the last 40 years," he said. - Asked if making marijuana legal could offer a way forward, Mr Santos said it could and that he would support it "provided everyone does it at the same time". But he emphasized that other countries needed to take the lead, saying the issue was "a matter of national security" for Colombia, whereas "in other
countries this is mainly a health and crime issue". - "Drug trafficking is what finances the violence and the irregular groups in our country. I would be crucified if I took the first step," he said in an interview with Metro, the global free daily newspaper chain.
- Last month Felipe Calderón, the Mexican president, used a speech in New York to warn the US that as the world's "largest consumer of drugs" it may have to consider legislation "to reduce the astronomical earnings of criminal organizations".
In June a report by politicians and former world leaders said that the global war on drugs has fueled organized crime and recommended an end to the criminalization of drug users and the legalization of some banned substances. Ernesto Zedillo, Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Cesar Gaviria, former presidents of Mexico, Brazil and Colombia respectively, were among the 19-member commission that drew up the report.
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