In order to change the perspective of the war on drugs, now lost, President Gustavo Petro proposes to legalize cannabis – the production of which for medical use has been legal since 2016. He thus provokes a furious reaction from the conservative right, in power until recently. However, on the American continent, several countries have already taken the plunge.
Since his inauguration on August 7, President Gustavo Petro has launched a series of far-reaching reforms aimed at pacifying Colombia – a country in conflict for more than half a century – through a radical change in the war on drugs, which consists of passing from a punitive logic to a preventive logic.
Last week, he took another step in that direction, proposing to legalize cannabis in the world's top cocaine-producing country, at a summit of mayors, where he asked, according to the magazine Semana: “ What if cannabis is legalized in Colombia without a licence, like planting corn or potatoes, and you wonder if you can export it to earn a few dollars? (…) Knowing that cannabis is already legalized in many countries, will it be a Canadian multinational that will collect these dollars by planting cannabis or will it be the cannabis growers of Cauca?”
Read more: https://www.courrierinternational.com/article/reformes-guerre-contre-la-drogue-le-nouveau-president-colombien-propose-de-legaliser-le-cannabis