Ex-presidents call for changing drug policy

A group of intellectuals and Latin American ex-presidents have called for the revaluation of counternarcotics policy.

The group called the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy emitted their report after meeting in Rio de Janeiro. Their report blasted the “war on drugs” and called for making drastic changes:

“The prohibitionist policies based on repressing production, intercepting trafficking and distribution, and criminalizing its consumption have not produced expected results…The goal of eradicating drugs has been farther than ever”…

“(Drug use) has transformed into a taboo that has prevented pubic debate…and confines drug consumers to a closed circle where they become more vulnerable to organized criminal activities.”

The commission also called for the legalization of marijuana for personal use as part of “changing (the) paradigms” of counternarcotics efforts.

Members of the group include former presidents Fernando Enrique Cardoso (Brazil), Ernesto Zedillo (Mexico) and César Gaviria (Colombia) as well as Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa and Foreign Policy magazine chief Moises Naim.

Image- telecinco.com (Ex-presidents Fernando Enrique Cardoso and César Gaviria at the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy conference)
Online Sources- Univision.com, El Tiempo, globo.com