President Juan Manuel Santos expressed his support for a proposal to legalize marijuana for medical use in Colombia. According to the country’s president, “the war on drugs has failed.”
Santos made the statement at a forum on drugs in the Colombian capital Bogota.
According to the president, “the current focus of the war on drugs has failed” as “the menace is still here.”
Santos, who admitted to smoking pot in college before his first election in 2010, said his current administration would much rather see a different approach to drug use, for example through allowing the sale of medical marijuana.
| “We approve of the initiative regarding the therapeutic and medicinal use of marijuana.” |
MORE: Santos: I smoked marijuana in college
“We look favorably on the initiative regarding the therapeutic and medical use of marijuana,” said Santos about a proposal by Liberal Party Senator Juan Manuel Galan to allow cannabis for medical use.
According to the president, ” we understand it is a practical and passive measure to reduce pain of terminal patients.”
The Colombian President, joined by other Latin American counterparts and former US President Jimmy Carter, has been calling to rethink the US-led war on drugs for years.
MORE: ‘War on drugs’ needs rethinking: Santos, Carter
During his first term, Santos retracted legislation pushed through Congress by his predecessor, former President Alvaro Uribe, that penalized the carrying of marijuana or cocaine for personal use.
Supported by the country’s constitutional court, the current legislation impedes authorities to punish someone if caught carrying less than 20 grams of marijuana or one gram of cocaine.
Marijuana has been used to reduce nausea and vomiting of HIV / AIDS patents, and cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. A number of US states and European countries have already legalized the medical use of marijuana.
Sources
- El mundo ha fracasado en la lucha contra las drogas, señala el Presidente Santos (President’s Office)