Pubdate: Mon, 30 Apr 2012
Source: Lincoln Journal Star (NE)
Contact:  2012 McClatchy Newspapers
Website: http://www.journalstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/561
Author: Andres Oppenheimer
Note: Andres Oppenheimer is a Latin America correspondent for the Miami Herald.

DRUG WAR WILL CHANGE COURSE IN 2013

When the recent Summit of the Americas in Colombia decided to 
commission a study on whether to decriminalize drugs, many thought 
that would be the end of it, and the whole thing would be forgotten 
quickly. Well, maybe not.

For starters, it was the first time that such a large group of heads 
of state ventured into that once-taboo area. And there are several 
other unrelated factors that may contribute to put decriminalization 
in the front burner later this year or in early 2013.

At a closed meeting during the April 14-15 summit of President Barack 
Obama and 29 other regional leaders, Obama agreed to ask the 
Organization of American States to look into possible alternatives to 
the four-decade-old U.S.-backed war on drugs, which many say is 
failing. No further details were given. Earlier this week, I called 
OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza to find out whether this is 
something we should take seriously. Skeptics say the leaders did what 
they usually do when they don't know how to solve a problem: they 
kicked it forward. It will take years for the OAS commission to make 
its recommendations, they say.

But supporters note that the region's pro-legalization movement is 
gaining momentum, and that the OAS study may give it further 
legitimacy. Only a decade ago, the debate about drug legalization was 
limited to academic circles, they note. Then, in 2009, three former 
presidents --- Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil, Ernesto Zedillo 
of Mexico and Cesar Gaviria of Colombia --- issued a joint statement 
supporting decriminalization of marijuana. Later, former Mexican 
President Vicente Fox suggested an even more drastic proposal: 
legalizing all drugs.

Earlier this year, for the first time, a sitting Latin American 
president --- Guatemala's Otto Perez Molina --- called for 
considering an across-the-board legalization of drugs. Shortly 
thereafter, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said he supports a 
"serious debate" on the issue at the Cartagena summit, which ended 
with the mandate to the OAS. Asked how soon the OAS will complete the 
study, Insulza told me they want to finish it by the end of this 
year, and release it by next March.

It will be a comprehensive study that will look into the business of 
drug trafficking, the success or failure of various European 
countries that have experimented with decriminalization and 
regulation of the drug trade, as well as ways to improve education, 
prevention and rehabilitation, he said. Several other regional 
institutions, including the Pan American Health Organization and the 
Inter-American Development Bank, will participate in the study, he added.

"What will be new is that we will offer several alternatives to what 
is being done right now," Insulza said. "The idea is not to tell 
presidents what should be done, but to give them a menu of options."

My opinion: Several factors will converge late this year or in early 
2013 to place the drug debate at the top of the U.S.-Latin American 
diplomatic agenda. First, Mexico will inaugurate a new president in 
December, and --- no matter what the candidates say now --- the 
winner of the July 1 election will want to create distance from the 
current war on drugs, which has left more than 50,000 dead over the 
past five years.

Second, California, Oregon and Washington are scheduled to include 
pro-marijuana legalization propositions on their ballots in 
November's elections. A victory of one or more of those propositions 
would embolden legalization forces and weaken Latin America's resolve 
to fight the drug cartels militarily.

Third, the OAS study may include decriminalization of marijuana among 
its "menu of options," encouraging more presidents to join the 
pro-decriminalization camp. The OAS, which has not been doing a good 
job defending democracy or human rights lately, may take its drug 
policy mandate seriously, if anything else to become more relevant.

A blanket legalization of hard drugs may not be the best idea, but if 
the OAS report concludes that decriminalization of marijuana would 
give countries more resources to help combat harder drugs, it will be 
a better alternative than the war on drugs that is costing so many 
lives --- and money --- nowadays.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom