NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL: … Colombia, which has been among Washington’s most willing and pliant partners in the fight against drugs, is among those charting their own course in notable ways. Defying the United States, the Colombian government recently banned aerial spraying of coca crops, citing health concerns. Earlier this month, Yesid Reyes, the Colombian justice minister, delivered a speech at the United Nations outlining proposals that include decriminalizing consumption and finding alternatives to incarceration for minor drug offenses.
“We declared a war that has not been won,” Mr. Reyes said in the speech. “For that reason it’s imperative to conceive and agree on, at the international level, policies and approaches that allow us to respond to this enormous challenge in the most humane, smart and effective way.”
Uruguay and Bolivia have also been leaning forward. Uruguay legalized recreational use of marijuana in 2013. Bolivia kicked out the United States Drug Enforcement Administration in 2009 and currently allows farmers to grow modest crops of coca, which is widely chewed as a stimulant and used for medicinal purposes there. There are outliers, though; chiefly Peru, which continues to fight the drug trade with strict and punitive policies… (more)
