Unasur seeks to reorient drug policy, decriminalize drug use

The Union of South American Nations (Unasur) is seeking to reorient regional drug policy to combat the large cartels, not the small consumers, an Uruguayan daily said Monday.

"We can begin to decriminalize certain behavior" without endorsing drug use, said Ernesto Samper, Unasur secretary general and former Colombian president in an interview published by Uruguay's El Pais newspaper.

Samper, who is to head a meeting of the South American Drug Council in Montevideo, indicated the legal reforms would not be of a radical nature, saying "we cannot leap from prohibition to legalization."

However, "no other region has the moral authority South America has to ask for a change in drug fighting policies, given the high price we have paid in institutional, environmental and economic terms."

Unasur is set to propose several initiatives at the meeting, which include a crop substitution program to replace the current policy, said Samper.

"Instead of putting (all) consumers behind bars, why don't we differentiate between social, recreational and medicinal users?" said Samper.

Governments should fight organized crime and the powerful cartels, instead of the individual users, he added.

Uruguay's former President Jose Mujica, who decriminalized marijuana use, showed there are effective alternatives to the current war on drugs, Samper said.

In December 2013, Uruguay's legislature passed a law that allows the government to regulate the production and distribution of marijuana. Several U.S. states have also legalized its sale and use in recent years. Endi