Pubdate: Sun, 29 Apr 2012
Source: Bradenton Herald (FL)
Copyright: 2012 Miami Herald
Contact: http://www.bradenton.com/contact_us/feedback/
Website: http://www.bradenton.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/58
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 quickly 
forgotten. 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 non-related 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.

Last 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 that 
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 this 
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