Argentina and Mexico
have taken significant steps towards decriminalising drugs amid a
growing Latin American backlash against the US-sponsored "war on drugs".
Argentina's
supreme court has ruled it unconstitutional to punish people for using
marijuana for personal consumption, an eagerly awaited judgment that
gave the government the green light to push for further liberalisation.
It
followed Mexico's decision to stop prosecuting people for possession of
relatively small quantities of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other
drugs. Instead, they will be referred to clinics and treated as
patients, not criminals.
Brazil and Ecuador are also considering
partial decriminalisation as part of a regional swing away from a
decades-old policy of crackdowns still favoured by Washington.
"The
tide is clearly turning. The 'war on drugs' strategy has failed,"
Fernando Henrique Cardoso, a former Brazilian president, told the
Guardian. Earlier this year, he and two former presidents of Colombia
and Mexico published a landmark report calling for a new departure.
"The
report of the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy has
certainly helped to open up the debate about more humane and efficient
policies. But, most of all, the facts are speaking by themselves," said
Cardoso.
Reform campaigners have long argued that criminalisation
enriched drug cartels, fuelled savage turf wars, corrupted state
institutions and filled prisons with addicts who presented no real
threat to society.
The US used its considerable influence to keep
Latin America and the UN wedded to hardline policies which kept the
focus on interdictions and jail sentences for consumers as well as
dealers. The "war" was first declared by the Nixon administration.
The
economic and social cost, plus European moves towards liberalisation,
have emboldened some Latin American states to try new approaches.
Argentina's
supreme court, presented with a case about youths arrested with a few
joints, ruled last week that such behaviour did not violate the
constitution. "Each adult is free to make lifestyle decisions without
the intervention of the state," it said.
The government, which
favours decriminalisation, is expected to amend laws in light of the
ruling. The court stressed, however, that it was not approving complete
decriminalisation, a move that would be fiercely resisted by the
Catholic church and other groups.
The previous week the
government of Mexico, which has endured horrific drug-related violence,
made it no longer an offence to possess 0.5g of cocaine (the equivalent
of about four lines), 5g of marijuana (about four joints), 50mg of
heroin and 40mg of methamphetamine.
Three years ago, Mexico
backtracked on similar legislation after the initiative triggered howls
of outrage in the US and predictions that Cancun and other resorts
would become world centres of narcotics tourism.
Now, however,
the authorities quietly say they need to free up resources and jail
space for a military-led war on the drug cartels, even while publicly
justifying that offensive to the Mexican public with the slogan "to
stop the drugs reaching your children". They also argue corrupt police
officers will be deterred from extorting money from drug users.
Washington
did not protest against the announcement, which was kept deliberately
low key. "They made no fanfare so as not to arouse the ire of the US,"
said Walter McKay, of the Mexico City-based Institute for Security and
Democracy. "I predict that when the US sees its nightmare has not come
true and that there is no narco-tourist boom it will come under more
pressure to legalise or decriminalise."
Some US states have
decriminalised the possession of small amounts of marijuana and the
Obama administration has emphasised public health solutions to drug
abuse, giving Latin America more breathing room, said Kasia
Malinowska-Sempruch, director of the Global Drug Policy Programme. "My
hope is that Latin America will be the next region, after most of
Europe, where evidence and science will be the basis for policy-making."
Argentina
and Mexico's moves may encourage other governments to follow suit. A
new law has been mooted in Ecuador, where President Rafael Correa last
year pardoned 1,500 "mules" who had been sentenced to jail. His late
father was a convicted mule.
Brazil's supreme court, as well as
elements in Congress and the justice ministry, favour decriminalising
possession of small quantities of drugs, said Maria Lucia Karam, a
former judge who has joined the advocacy group Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition.
She welcomed the moves towards decriminalisation but
said repression remained a cornerstone of drug policy. "Unfortunately
the 'war on drugs' mentality is still the dominant policy approach in
Latin America. The only way to reduce violence in Mexico, Brazil or
anywhere else is to legalise the production, supply and consumption of
all drugs."
