Drugs should be Legalised

Drugs should be Legalised

When you think about Columbia, who and what comes to your mind? Cocaine and Pablo Escobar comes to my mind. So, you know what came to my mind when I read Columbian president, Juan Manuel Santos’ views on the whole drug trade scenario.

The esteemed president has coyly questioned the current legality of banned drugs and asked to be a part of a combined effort. Just like the war on Terror is fading from out of picture and Barrack Obama bringing it back for better ratings, taking a look at
what MR Santos has to say should be intuitive.

There is a need for a new approach to "take away the violent profit that comes with drug trafficking… If that means legalising, and the world thinks that’s the solution, I will welcome it. I’m not against it," according to Santos as he revealed in an interview
with the Observer.

What I won’t do is become the vanguard of that movement because then I will be crucified," he says. "But I would gladly participate in those discussions because we are the country that’s still suffering most and have suffered most historically with the high
consumption of the UK, the US and Europe in general."

He wants to legalise drugs if it comes to that position, however, his choice of drugs is questionable. Santos is not only talking about legalising marijuana but in this regard, even cocaine.

"I would talk about legalising marijuana, and more than just marijuana."

"I ask myself how would you explain marijuana being legalised in California [for medicinal purposes] and cocaine consumption being penalised in Idaho? It’s a contradiction. So it’s a difficult problem where you set the limits.

"For example, I would never legalise very hard drugs like morphine or heroin because they are suicidal drugs. I might consider legalising cocaine if there is a world consensus, because it has affected us most here in Colombia. I don’t know what is more harmful,
cocaine or marijuana. That’s a health discussion. But again, only if there is a consensus."

For most, the remarks of Columbian president reek of controversy but like every objective issue that we are faced with, this subject needs to be debated as well. If holy wars can be fought for oil, why not legalise the drugs that make people happy?

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Posted by Awais Khan on Nov 15 2011. Filed under Editorial, Latest News, Opinion, Society, USA, World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry