A raíz de la tolerancia al consumo de drogas en América Latina y la ambigüedad legal que lo rodea, gobiernos, partidos políticos y principalmente organizaciones sociales, consideran que es el momento indicado para que los Estados inicien la discusión que podría llevar a la despenalización del consumo de, al menos, algunas de esas drogas.
No obstante, ningún país de la región está discutiendo oficialmente el tema. Todo indica que la despenalización –incluso de la marihuana, cuyos efectos sociales y personales son los más aceptados– va a demorar.
No es que falten promotores poderosos: al menos tres de los intelectuales continent's most important believe that decriminalization would be the most effective way to end the harmful use and gangsterism of the business.
Nobel Prize in Literature, Mario Vargas Llosa, is in favor of decriminalization and indicates that the drug cartels and have won the war because of the existing ban.
In Mexico, the magazine Nexos adopted its position in its editorial of October, in favor of decriminalization, and figures such as former Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda has been ruled to legalize marijuana as an alternative to a failed war against drug trafficking currently facing the Mexican government.
Former President Brazil's Fernando Henrique Cardoso argues in the same direction.
The reality is different ... But one thing are the speculations of thinkers and another reality: in many countries neither politicians nor the public get to see the priority of the item in saturated agendas of social conflicts of a more palpable urgency.
In Brazil itself, whose stereotype of carefree fun and has a worldwide reputation, a 2008 survey conducted by Data Folha revealed that one of every five Brazilians supports the decriminalization of drugs and that 76% prefer that smoking marijuana is prohibited law.
More or less the same figures are given in Peru. A recent study by the Center Information and Education for the Prevention of Drug Abuse (Cedar), indicates that nine out of 10 Peruvians are against legalization.
Chilean society also has low approval ratings for the legalization of marijuana, ranging from 25% in the general population to 32% in schoolchildren.
Perhaps that is why Peru and Chile is where least envisions a national debate on the subject.
In Peru, according to official counts, there are about 100,000 cannabis users. One of the government's argument is that "legalizing the consumption does not solve the problem because the state lacks the capacity to address the harmful consequences that its use results in people, "he summed Milton Red Cedar expert.
Mexican President Felipe Calderón, accepted the debate over legalizing drugs, but noted that among the arguments against the measure is the increase in consumption, especially among youth and adolescents, as well as generating an idea of \u200b\u200bwhat is socially acceptable.
A member of the International Narcotics Control United Nations also rejected the legalization but another of the arguments run by opponents of the idea: a policy of this nature merely encourages organizations to continue contesting markets and territories and any country where consumption has slowed applied or the operations of criminal organizations. Is often cited cases of Holland and England.
The Argentine government announced that it would proceed to legalization, but a year later did not present a project on the subject in Congress. Yes they did opposition MPs. For specialists, this is a conceptual error.
"We started backwards, instead of outlining a strategy and follow the law to see if it works or not the objectives, here we have a court order and have to adapt the goals to that decision. First you have to categorize drugs, take them out of ideological focus individual right, and only then proceed with a change of law, "said Claudio Mate, former Minister of Health of Buenos Aires.
Activism. Thus, the debate is limited to the promotion of legalization by activists to have little relevance in the areas of decision. In Uruguay, for example, some groups aim to achieve full liberalization of the use or possession of marijuana. This idea picks up support among some academics, lawyers and nuances, some politicians, including a pair of former presidents.
And although in some cities on the continent marches to legalize marijuana is common, the political class and society still perciben el tema como el exotismo juvenil en un problema mucho mayor que incluye protagonistas tan feos como delincuentes con poderes paragubernamentales e infraestructuras letales. Y esa clase de argumentos son los que pesan más, hoy, en las sociedades latinoamericanas contra la despenalización.
Informe especial GDA realizado con la participación de Daniel Gallo (La Nación, Argentina); Tatiana Farah (O Globo, Brasil); Sair Buitrago (El Tiempo, Colombia); Carlos Arguedas C. (La Nación, Costa Rica); Geovanny Tipanluisa (El Comercio, Ecuador); Silvia Otero (El Universal, México); Carolina Ciurlizza (El Comercio, Perú); Javier Ignacio Mayorca (El Nacional, Venezuela), Fabián_Muro (El País, Uruguay) and the editorial offices of El Mercurio, Chile, and El Nuevo Dia, Puerto Rico. Text editing was responsible for Fernan R. Cisneros (El Pais, Uruguay).
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