Juan Manuel Santos Approves Bill Allowing Sales of Medicinal Cannabis Praised Bill for Giving People Access to Medicine While Reducing Crime Uruguay Has Legalised Drug, With Brazil and Chile Considering Law Change The President of Colombia has endorsed new legislation which paves the way for legalising medical cannabis. Juan Manuel Santos made the announcement yesterday at a drug policy forum in the capital Bogota. Mr Santos called the bill 'a practical, compassionate measure to reduce the pain (and) anxiety of patients with terminal illnesses' while adding that it would help combat crime. [continues 193 words]
Leader Says He Hopes for Breakthrough on Drug War in Peace Talks With FARC Guerrillas MEXICO CITY--Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said the war against drugs has failed, and the world must come up with new approaches to deal with a scourge that has killed thousands of Colombians. In an interview on Monday with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Santos noted a softening of hard-line antidrug policies both in the U.S. and in Latin America. He said the world had to develop more "realistic and pragmatic" ways to fight drug trafficking. [continues 1070 words]
BOGOTA, Colombia - The interception in Colombia of a plane carrying almost half a metric ton of coca paste bound for Mexico is a sign Mexican drug cartels are switching from importers to manufacturers, according to Colombian police. Authorities intercepted 490 kilos (1,080 pounds) of the paste, an unrefined form of the drug made by farmers, on Jan. 30 as a Mexico-bound plane prepared to take off from an airport in southern Colombia. The capture, the first of its kind, means that at least one Mexican gang has set up a factory capable of turning the paste into cocaine that can be sold in the U.S., according to General Ricardo Restrepo, head of the Colombian police's counter-narcotics unit. [continues 495 words]
Program in Colombia Is Stopped After News That Shoot-Downs of U.S. Pilots Were Carried Out by Rebels. BOGOTA, Colombia - U.S.-funded anti-coca spraying in Colombia has been suspended indefinitely in the aftermath of the shooting down, apparently by leftist rebels, of two spray planes and the death of one of the American pilots, sources confirmed Monday. One fumigation airplane was shot down Sept. 27, killing the pilot, whose name was not made public. A second crop-duster was brought down Oct. 5, prompting the U.S. Embassy in Bogota to suspend spraying, according to one well-informed source who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press. [continues 406 words]
(AP) - A small plane on a U.S. counterdrug mission crashed Saturday in a remote, jungle region of northern Colombia, killing three Americans and a Panamanian National Guardsman and seriously injuring the other two Americans aboard. The Havilland Dash 8 was flying over the western Caribbean when it lost radio contact with the U.S.-sponsored multinational task force in Key West, Florida that runs drug interdiction in region, the U.S. military said. Such planes typically track speedboats that smuggle cocaine from Colombia north into Central America and the Caribbean but U.S. Southern Command spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Ron Flanders said he did not have details on the mission. [continues 364 words]
4 KILLED IN PLANE CRASH 3 Americans Die, 2 Others Seriously Injured in Counter-Drug Flight BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - A small plane on a U.S. counterdrug mission crashed Saturday in a remote region of northern Colombia, killing three Americans and a Panamanian National Guardsman and seriously injuring the other two Americans aboard. The Havilland Dash 8 was flying over the western Caribbean when it lost radio contact with the U.S.-sponsored multinational task force in Key West, Fla., that runs drug interdiction in the region, the U.S. military said. [continues 262 words]
War on Drugs Organization of American States Urges New Strategy BOGOTA, Colombia - The Organization of American States (OAS) said Friday that countries should consider decriminalizing drug use, a shift backed by several current and former Latin American leaders but opposed by the United States. Decriminalization could be one of many "transitional methods" in a public-health strategy that could include "drug courts, substantive reduction in sentences and rehabilitation," according to a report released by the OAS on the possible liberalization of drug policies. [continues 403 words]
(MCT) BOGOTA, Colombia - Marijuana has long been accused of being a gateway to deadlier vices. But could cannabis be a swinging door that might also lead people away from hard drugs? That's what this capital city is trying to find out. In coming weeks, Bogota is embarking on a controversial public health project where it will begin supplying marijuana to 300 addicts of bazuco - a cheap cocaine derivative that generates cracklike highs and is as addictive as heroin. Bogota has 7,500 bazuco users among its 9,500 homeless population, said Ruben Dario Ramirez, director of the Center for the Study and Analysis of Coexistence and Security, which is spearheading the project. [continues 569 words]
BOGOTA, Colombia -- Marijuana has long been accused of being a gateway to deadlier vices. But could cannabis be a swinging door that might also lead people away from hard drugs? That's what this capital city is trying to find out. In coming weeks, Bogota is embarking on a controversial public health project where it will begin supplying marijuana to 300 addicts of bazuco - a cheap cocaine derivative that generates crack-like highs and is as addictive as heroin. Bogota has 7,500 bazuco users among its 9,500 homeless population, said Ruben Dario Ramirez, director of the Center for the Study and Analysis of Coexistence and Security, which is spearheading the project. [continues 957 words]
BOGOTA - Nine people have been shot to death in the countryside outside Medellin in a massacre police suspect is a settling of accounts between drug traffickers. Gen. Yesid Vasquez is commander of the Metropolitan Police Department in Medellin, Colombia's second largest city. He says that the five men and four women were killed on a farm, apparently in the early morning hours of Monday. Vazquez says the slayings following a Sunday afternoon party at the "extremely luxurious" country home, and the farm's owner is among the dead. The general says that the victims were apparently shot with guns that had silencers, explaining why no one nearby reported hearing gunfire. Santiago Londono, secretary of government for Antioquia department says one woman survived the massacre and is being questioned by investigators. [end]
U.S.-Vetted Sensitive Investigative Units Rack Up Impressive Successes In The Drug Wars Using American Technology And Training At A Relatively Low Cost. CARTAGENA, Colombia - Under cover of a moonless night in early July, the crew took no more than five minutes to load more than a ton of cocaine on a motorboat beached on a deserted shore of the Guajira peninsula in northeastern Colombia. Equipped with three 200-horsepower engines, the "go-fast" craft then roared off toward the Dominican Republic, the first stop on the drugs' way north. [continues 866 words]
Special Units Rely on American Technology and Training, Racking Up Impressive Successes at a Relatively Low Cost. CARTAGENA, Colombia - Under cover of a moonless night in early July, the crew took no more than five minutes to load more than a ton of cocaine on a motorboat beached on a deserted shore of the Guajira peninsula in northeastern Colombia. Equipped with three 200-horsepower engines, the "go-fast" craft then roared off toward the Dominican Republic, the first stop on the drugs' way north. [continues 1543 words]
Canada, U.S. oppose country's involvement in next gathering Political leaders from the Western Hemisphere ended their summit Sunday seriously divided over the contentious issue of Cuba, as Canada and the United States blocked an attempt by Latin American nations to bring the communist Caribbean country into their fold. The weekend summit ended frostily when the leaders of more than 30 countries failed to produce a final declaration about their work. The reason for that failure was that the leaders were un-able to reach a consensus on a key issue - the Latin American countries want Cuba to be invited to the next summit of the Americas in three years, in Panama. [continues 835 words]
It's a valid discussion for U.S., Mexico and others Latin American leaders, weary of the drug war, are calling for an important discussion on drug legalization. The U.S. should not turn away. April 15, 2012 The Summit of the Americas is more often a photo opportunity than a forum for bold policy initiatives. When issues of substance are discussed, the meeting of the hemisphere's 34 leaders has generally yielded more clashes than regional pacts. But some saw a chance for a little more action this year when leaders from several Latin American countries came to this weekend's summit in the Colombian seaside city of Cartagena complaining of drug war fatigue. [continues 288 words]
Resource development has power to change nation, Harper tells summit CARTAGENA, Colombia - Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a pitch for Canada's mining industry Saturday as Western Hemisphere leaders gathered to discuss critical issues such as whether to decriminalize the illegal drug trade. In a speech to senior business executives, Harper said a strong mining sector - assisted with a low-tax regime and environmental regulation without excessive delays - can help the Canadian economy and provide a lesson to the countries of Latin America. [continues 512 words]
Something is just not working with the way the hemisphere has tackled powerful and violent drug traffickers, Prime Minister Stephen Harper acknowledged Sunday as he wrapped up a meeting with the leaders of the Americas. It was the first time Harper has suggested he is open to discussing new approaches to the war on drugs. Several Latin American countries, including Guatemala, Mexico and Colombia have called for an open and frank discussion about how to deal with the cartels. "There is increasing doubt about whether we are taking the best approach to doing that, but nobody thinks these transnational networks are good guys, or that changing the law is somehow going to make them good people," Mr. Harper told reporters at a news conference following the close of the Summit of the Americas. [continues 348 words]
Leaders at the Summit of the Americas Want to Discuss What They Consider a Failed Policy CARTAGENA, Colombia - President Obama sought Saturday to emphasize the robust economic relationship between the United States and Latin America, and he flatly ruled out legalizing drugs as a way to combat the illegal trafficking that has ravaged the region. Facing calls at a regional summit to consider decriminalization, Obama said he is open to a debate about drug policy, but he believes that legalization could lead to greater problems in countries hardest hit by drug-fueled violence. [continues 448 words]
A Global Taskforce to Rethink the Approach to Narcotics Is Proposed at the Americas Summit The government of Colombia pushed yesterday for the most far-reaching change to policy on drugs since US president Richard Nixon declared war on narcotics four decades ago. Hosting the sixth Summit of the Americas, for which 33 leaders of the hemisphere's 35 nations including President Barack Obama have assembled in Cartagena, President Juan Manuel Santos proposed the establishment of a taskforce of experts, economists and academics to analyse the realities of global drug addiction, trafficking and profiteering, with a view to a complete overhaul of governmental strategy. [continues 576 words]
Latin American leaders consider decriminalization policy Prime Minister Stephen Harper is flying to a weekend summit in Colombia where his hard line on drugs will put him at odds with some Latin American leaders who are calling for a debate over whether drug use should be decriminalized. Harper's position on Cuba also could run afoul of a possible consensus by countries in central and South America. Harper is attending the Summit of the Americas, a conference of leaders from 34 nations that is held every three years. [continues 429 words]
Latin American leaders are pushing to make a Cartagena summit a moment that sparks the world to redefine its approach to drugs. Stephen Harper, like U.S. President Barack Obama, has vowed to stand in the way. Make no mistake, as presidents from Colombia to Mexico flirt with the idea of legalizing or decriminalizing drugs, the notion is a challenge aimed at the nations to the north, the United States and Canada, the big consumer markets for the smuggled drugs. At the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia, Mr. Harper will tell them they've got it all wrong. [continues 1147 words]
Inside Colombia
