Latin American Leaders Talk Drug Reform at UN

Latin American Leaders Talk Drug Reform at UN

I am happy to read that the United Nations has become a forum for calls concerning drug reform.  This week, many leaders from Latin America took the opportunity to challenge the world to come up with alternatives to drug prohibition.

“Right here, in this same headquarters, 52 years ago, the convention that gave birth to the war on drugs was approved. Today, we must acknowledge, that war has not been won,” Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos told assembled world leaders Tuesday, referring to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961. “And I say this as the president of the country that has suffered more deaths, more bloodshed and more sacrifices in this war, and the country that has also achieved more results in the fight against this scourge and the mafias that underpin it.”

President Santos´ remarks reiterate many of the same points he made last year at the Summit of the Americas, which commissioned the Organization of American States to study new approaches to dealing with illicit drugs.  Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla said on the same day, that her nation “joins the call from other States from our region, such as Mexico and Guatemala, to reevaluate internationally agreed-upon policies in search of more effective responses to drug trafficking, from a perspective of health, a framework of respect for human rights, and a perspective of harm reduction.” That language is from a consensus statement prepared and agreed on by Santos, Chinchilla, Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina, and Mexican President Enrique Peña.

On Thursday, Guatemalan President Perez Molina, is a former general elected to office on a promise of taking a hard-line against organized crime. Last year he became the first sitting head of state to call for legalizing the illicit drug market. . “Since the start of my government, we have clearly affirmed that the war on drugs has not yielded the desired results,” Perez Molina told the General Assembly. “We cannot keep on doing the same thing and expecting different results.” President Perez

The President of Uruguay, Jose Mujica, recently supported and endorsed legislation for his country of Uruguay to legalize marijuana “instead of following the failed route of prohibition.” That bill has passed the Uruguayan House and is expected to pass the Senate easily next month. Perez Molina and Mujica also met Thursday in a private meeting

At a personal level, I am encouraged to see that many leaders are united in a common goal.  Global leaders must find new and more comprehensive approaches to drug use, one that is centered on public health and prevention and designed to reduce violence and respect human rights.

There is no doubt that the issue of drugs is one that plagues our communities deeply and that we must find a solution to the problem together.

I am Attorney Martin E. Regan, Jr., and these are my personal thoughts….