Latin American strategy on drugs
The new Latin American strategy does not as yet
amount to decriminalisation; it is a humanitarian move which
differentiates between personal use and trafficking; it may therefore
help keep drug users out of the clutches of traffickers and dealers; and
it could release resources for targeting traffickers. It also goes
farther than some previous attempts at harm-reduction policies. In the
United Kingdom in 1997, the Labour Government initiated harm-reduction
measures by way of treatment-type court orders, but dropped the policy
following one adverse tabloid headline
Latin American states are dramatically changing their strategy on
illegal drugs - by ceasing to make war on drug users. Earlier this year,
former presidents of Brazil, Mexico and Colombia published a report
calling for more humane policies on drugs, and now Argentina’s Supreme
Court, in a landmark decision, has ruled that it is unconstitutional to
punish people for consuming marijuana.
Mexico has already stopped prosecuting users for possessing small
amounts of a range of drugs from marijuana to heroin and is introducing
treatment instead of punishment.
Crackdown on drugs
The former Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso says the war on drugs
has failed. The military-style crackdown on drugs in the Americas was
started four decades ago by United States President Richard Nixon; as
the U.S.-driven crackdowns have toughened, smugglers and gangs have
grown progressively more inventive.
War against drug trafficking in Mexico. Courtesy: Google |
Dutch customs officers have found cylinders of drugs welded to ships’
hulls below the waterline and recently the Mexican navy found a tonne of
cocaine in the frozen carcasses of sharks aboard a container ship.
Drugs have also been transported in sealed beer cans, furniture and
religious statuary. Indian traffickers have even stuffed drugs into
cricket pads for export.
There is no doubt the damage that illegal drugs and the trade in them
do throughout the world. In Mexico alone, some very senior Police
officers and other officials work for different gangs and cartels; even
a U.S. soldier has been charged with contract killing in the Mexican
drugs trade.
The border between Mexico and Texas in the U.S. is said to be a river
of drugs in one direction and a river of iron, meaning weapons, in the
other.
Humanitarian move
The U.S. administration proposes to use herbicides to destroy dense
cane along the Rio Grande - the border with Mexico - for better
visibility. Critics have drawn parallels with the U.S. use of the
defoliant Agent Orange in Vietnam.
The new Latin American strategy does not as yet amount to
decriminalisation; it is a humanitarian move which differentiates
between personal use and trafficking; it may therefore help keep drug
users out of the clutches of traffickers and dealers; and it could
release resources for targeting traffickers.
It also goes farther than some previous attempts at harm-reduction
policies. In the United Kingdom in 1997, the Labour Government initiated
harm-reduction measures by way of treatment-type court orders, but
dropped the policy following one adverse tabloid headline.
The recent Latin American moves are much more robust, have received
widespread approval among governments in the region and will be watched
with interest the world over.
(Courtesy: The Hindu)
|