Juan Manuel Santos Asks for Legalisation of Cannabis on a Worldwide Level

The president of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos is in favour of regulating cannabis use. A few months ago, the draft bill for legalising medical cannabis passed its first acid test in the Senate, a project that the Government approves of.

Now, Santos wants regulation to be the overall focus of the fight against drug trafficking, in order to “overcome the ‘anything goes’ attitude, and the mafia and the violence cult”. He stated this in an International Conference on the subject that was held in Cartagena de Indias, and did so in front of representatives from 106 countries. During the conference he admitted that the current eradication policy has been a failure. “We have spent billions of dollars on a war that has had important but, undoubtedly, insufficient results”, he stated.

The leader believes that cannabis legalisation in some states in the U.S. should serve as an example for other nations. "How do I go up to a Colombian peasant who is sowing coca leaf or marijuana and tell them that I am going to put them in prison?”, Santos asked the auditorium.

Santos also reminded the conference that the end of cartels in Colombia “led to a transformation process of crime, inside and outside of the country”. No for nothing has Colombia spent decades fighting drug trafficking, one of the country’s main concerns over the last few years. However, the president does not believe that policies should be tackled on a national level. Rather, they must be approached on a global level: “That approach must be the result of rigorous discussion, based on evidence, led by experts, and most importantly, free from political and ideological prejudice”.