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Central American leaders debate drug decriminalisation
World Report
Central American leaders debate drug decriminalisation Faced with mounting drug-related violence and continuous demand for illicit drugs in the USA, the presidents of Central America are pondering legalisation of the drug trade. David Boddiger reports. An unlikely protagonist is promoting robust debate in Central America on legalisation of illicit drugs. 1 month after taking office in January, Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina, a retired general who led the Guatemalan military during a brutal civil war, called for Central American leaders to consider decriminalisation as an alternative to the US-backed drug war in the region. Pérez Molina’s strategy is prompted by a sharp increase in regional violence, which has claimed some 50 000 lives in Mexico since 2006 and has transformed Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras into the deadliest region in the world outside of war zones. In February, Pérez Molina dispatched Guatemalan Vice President Roxana Baldetti on a regional tour to promote the issue ahead of the upcoming Sixth Summit of the Americas, to be held in Colombia in April. “Central Americans must not continue dying from a problem that at the end of the day isn’t of our creation”, Baldetti said during a Feb 29 meeting in Costa Rica. On March 24, Molina hosted a Central American summit on the issue, where he proposed that consuming nations—primarily the USA—pay local governments 50% of the cost of each
Alberto Font
Clayton R Norman contributed to this story
Guatemalan Vice President Roxana Baldetti, left, discusses drug decriminalisation
1184
kilogram of cocaine seized by Central American authorities. While stopping short of supporting decriminalisation of illicit drugs, Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla said she supports change. “If we’re the ones sacrificing an entire generation, if gangs have gotten out of hand, and if we’re jeopardising government institutions because of corruption and intimidation, then the least Central America can do is have a dialogue and evaluate what we’ve been doing up to this point”, Chinchilla said.
“‘...Any legalisation effort needs to be accompanied by a significant infusion of financial and human resources in the area of health services’...” In the USA, where President Barack Obama is focused on reelection, legalisation of illicit drugs is off the table. “The United States does not believe that legalising drugs is a way out of this problem”, US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said during a Feb 28 visit to Costa Rica. In Costa Rica, Chinchilla noted, drug use, while not legal, is not criminally prosecuted, and instead of incarceration, drug users are afforded access to treatment programmes run by the Health Ministry and paid for by the Social Security System. Costa Rica is the only country in the region with universal health care, and drug treatment programmes are free. But while infrastructure for treatment and prevention programmes exists in Costa Rica, funding and other resources are limited. “If [illicit drugs] are legalised, we can expect a spike in consumption. Any legalisation effort needs to be accompanied by a significant infusion
of financial and human resources in the area of health services”, said Patricia Orozco, director of the government-run Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Institute. For the Obama administration, US drug policy focuses on maintaining security programmes to combat narcotics trafficking throughout Latin America while increasing investment in domestic demand reduction and drug misuse treatment. According to the US Office of National Drug Control Policy, the Obama administration spent an unprecedented US$10 billion in the past fiscal year on drug treatment and prevention. The Obama White House established the first ever office on recovery, and around 22 million people who misuse drugs have received treatment through the new programme. US officials also point out that according to the US Department of Health and Human Services, the number of people using cocaine has decreased by 40% in the past 5 years. Methamphetamine use has also declined. President Obama’s Drug Control Strategy sets out 113 action items that are alternatives to the drug war policies of the past. Despite recent rhetoric, there are signs that common ground may exist between US and Central American goals. In a January speech before the US National Sheriffs Association, US drug czar Gil Kerlikowske acknowledged the “need to take a different approach” on drug policy. Kerlikowske added that “it makes more sense to support programmes and interventions that treat underlying substance abuse problems before the condition becomes chronic than to just keep filling our prisons and jails with drug offenders.”
David Boddiger www.thelancet.com Vol 379 March 31, 2012
Central American leaders debate drug decriminalisation Faced with mounting drug-related violence and continuous demand for illicit drugs in the USA, the presidents of Central America are pondering legalisation of the drug trade. David Boddiger reports. An unlikely protagonist is promoting robust debate in Central America on legalisation of illicit drugs. 1 month after taking office in January, Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina, a retired general who led the Guatemalan military during a brutal civil war, called for Central American leaders to consider decriminalisation as an alternative to the US-backed drug war in the region. Pérez Molina’s strategy is prompted by a sharp increase in regional violence, which has claimed some 50 000 lives in Mexico since 2006 and has transformed Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras into the deadliest region in the world outside of war zones. In February, Pérez Molina dispatched Guatemalan Vice President Roxana Baldetti on a regional tour to promote the issue ahead of the upcoming Sixth Summit of the Americas, to be held in Colombia in April. “Central Americans must not continue dying from a problem that at the end of the day isn’t of our creation”, Baldetti said during a Feb 29 meeting in Costa Rica. On March 24, Molina hosted a Central American summit on the issue, where he proposed that consuming nations—primarily the USA—pay local governments 50% of the cost of each
Alberto Font
Clayton R Norman contributed to this story
Guatemalan Vice President Roxana Baldetti, left, discusses drug decriminalisation
1184
kilogram of cocaine seized by Central American authorities. While stopping short of supporting decriminalisation of illicit drugs, Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla said she supports change. “If we’re the ones sacrificing an entire generation, if gangs have gotten out of hand, and if we’re jeopardising government institutions because of corruption and intimidation, then the least Central America can do is have a dialogue and evaluate what we’ve been doing up to this point”, Chinchilla said.
“‘...Any legalisation effort needs to be accompanied by a significant infusion of financial and human resources in the area of health services’...” In the USA, where President Barack Obama is focused on reelection, legalisation of illicit drugs is off the table. “The United States does not believe that legalising drugs is a way out of this problem”, US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said during a Feb 28 visit to Costa Rica. In Costa Rica, Chinchilla noted, drug use, while not legal, is not criminally prosecuted, and instead of incarceration, drug users are afforded access to treatment programmes run by the Health Ministry and paid for by the Social Security System. Costa Rica is the only country in the region with universal health care, and drug treatment programmes are free. But while infrastructure for treatment and prevention programmes exists in Costa Rica, funding and other resources are limited. “If [illicit drugs] are legalised, we can expect a spike in consumption. Any legalisation effort needs to be accompanied by a significant infusion
of financial and human resources in the area of health services”, said Patricia Orozco, director of the government-run Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Institute. For the Obama administration, US drug policy focuses on maintaining security programmes to combat narcotics trafficking throughout Latin America while increasing investment in domestic demand reduction and drug misuse treatment. According to the US Office of National Drug Control Policy, the Obama administration spent an unprecedented US$10 billion in the past fiscal year on drug treatment and prevention. The Obama White House established the first ever office on recovery, and around 22 million people who misuse drugs have received treatment through the new programme. US officials also point out that according to the US Department of Health and Human Services, the number of people using cocaine has decreased by 40% in the past 5 years. Methamphetamine use has also declined. President Obama’s Drug Control Strategy sets out 113 action items that are alternatives to the drug war policies of the past. Despite recent rhetoric, there are signs that common ground may exist between US and Central American goals. In a January speech before the US National Sheriffs Association, US drug czar Gil Kerlikowske acknowledged the “need to take a different approach” on drug policy. Kerlikowske added that “it makes more sense to support programmes and interventions that treat underlying substance abuse problems before the condition becomes chronic than to just keep filling our prisons and jails with drug offenders.”
David Boddiger www.thelancet.com Vol 379 March 31, 2012