The head of Colombian tax firm DIAN joined government officials and politicians in calling for cocaine to be legalized.
DIAN director Luis Carlos Reyes said on Twitter that they “want to legalize (and tax) cocaine” in reaction to The Economist, which also claimed that “it’s time to legalize cocaine” in an op-ed.
Reyes joined President Gustavo Petro, who has called for a major change in global drug policy, including the “regulation” of drug prohibition.
Colombia’s Congress is debating a Liberal Party bill that aims to legalize the cultivation, industry and use of marijuana.
Initiatives to legalize drugs can count on the ferocity of a minority of conservative and far-right senators and parliamentarians.
Public opinion on the imaginable legalization of drugs is almost similarly divided, according to pollster Invamer.
Petro’s refusal to continue waging the so-called “war on drugs” has strangely won over the management of US President Joe Biden, who first said he opposed the legalization of drugs such as cocaine.
“We, Petro’s comprehensive approach,” the U. S. secretary of state said. U. S. President Antony Blinken after a meeting with the Colombian president this month.
The U. S. government has been the main foreign sponsor of repressive drug policies in the South American country.
In an attempt to increase diplomatic influence, Petro pushed for a radical change in regional drug policies among Latin American governments.
The debate on the legalization of cocaine gained strength after the publication of a long-awaited report through the Truth Commission on the Colombian Armed Conflict.
In its report, the Truth Commission stated that counternarcotics policies were largely to blame for perpetuating the armed conflict.
The Truth Commission stated extra that the illicit drug industry has caused great damage to the country’s democracy through the corruption of its public institutions.
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