Colombia to decriminalize cocaine
Authorities in Colombia have approved plans to decriminalize the possession of up to one gram of cocaine and 20 grams on marijuana, in a bold move to reduce Prohibition related crime.
The South America country’s announcement came just as America’s Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) revealed that cocaine is now 74% cheaper in the US than when they launched Prohibition 30 years ago, prompting the New York Times to declare the drug war as being clearly lost.
Using data from respected research group the RAND Corporation, Time columnist Eduardo Porter said legalizing marijuana alone would rob Mexican cartels of 20% of their revenues while legalizing everything would boost the US economy by at least $65 billion a year.
“”The war on drugs cannot be won,” Mr Porter concluded. “Once they understand this, the Mexican and American governments may consider refocusing their strategies to take aim at what really matters: the health and security of their citizens, communities and nations." (New York Times; http://nyti.ms/P4JfzM )
Speaking about the same DEA statistics Britain’s justice secretary, Ken Clarke, agreed though vowed to continue with current policies regardless.
We have been engaged in a war on drugs for more than 30 years. We are plainly losing it,” he admitted (speaking at a Commons home affairs select committee on drugs).
“We have not achieved very much progress. The same problems come round and round,” he added. http://bit.ly/NimBA2
Irish Examiner on drugs (http://bit.ly/R7EmEF ): “The International Journal of Drug Policy, in a systematic review of all available peer-reviewed research last year, concluded that; "gun violence and the enrichment of organised crime networks appear to be natural consequences of drug prohibition" . . .”
http://bit.ly/BOQP8 (David Cameron at Acid house rave, 1988)
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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