Transcript National experiences on drug policy change

Transatlantic Conference
“Time to rethink our policy on drugs – experiences
from Europe and the Americas”
Latin American Drug Policy Debate
Diana Rossi
Intercambios Civil Association
Brussels, November 12, 2013
Neoliberal period and changes in drug use patterns
 The successive social and economic crises that
affected Latin America during the hegemonic
neoliberal period during the nineties, not only had a
profound impact on social integration of the
population but also increased vulnerability as a
consequence of deepening poverty; cuts in health,
social and education services; increasing violence
and disillusionment (Friedman et al, 2009).
 Changes in drug use patterns also occurred
influenced by drug traffic and market transformation.
Cocaine use trends in South America indicate that
intranasal and smoking have displaced injection use
as preferred routes of administration among drug
users.
Neoliberal period and imprisonment
 A study on imprisonment for drug crimes in Argentina,
Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and
Uruguay showed that:
 Those who are incarcerated tend to "occupy the lowest
links in the chain", such as users caught with small
amounts of drugs and small dealers.
 The drug laws impose penalties disproportionate to many
of the drug offences committed, do not give sufficient
consideration to the use of alternative sanctions, and
promote the excessive use of preventive detention.
 In seven of these countries for which it was possible to
obtain data for the 15 years from 1992 to 2007, the
incarceration rate increased, on average, more than 100
percent (WOLA & TNI, 2010).
War on drugs and Violence
 Mexico and Central American countries have been
facing exponential growth of organized crime,
violence and rise of drug consumption.
 The concern for the exacerbated violence, and
violation of human rights has been addressed in
different regional documents, one of the latest being
the recommendations of the X Hemispheric Forum of
civil society and social actors and special session
with civil society and social actors of the committee
on Interamerican Summits management and civil
society participation in OAS activities.
Accesible at: http://www.summit-americas.org/cs_meet.html
Latin American debates on drug policy
 Several Latin American governments have been part
of a global debate to decriminalize drug use.
 Most of the arguments in favour state that the current
drug policy has done nothing to reduce drug supply
or demand. It has stigmatized drug users by
distancing them from preventive and assistance
services and using funds from the judicial system and
law enforcement organizations for penalizing
consumers rather than persecuting dealers.
 Numerous governments from the region are more
open to change than in the nineties (Rossi, 2012).
Initiatives to debate on drug policy
 The Latin American Commission on Drugs
and Democracy, was created in 2009 by the
former Presidents Fernando Henrique
Cardoso of Brazil, César Gaviria of Colombia
and Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico and other 18
prestigious decision makers of the region.
 Intercambios Civil Association organized the
first Latin American Conference on Drug
Policy in 2009.
Latin American debates on drug policy
 Although in the last decade there is a tendency to
lessen the impact of the criminal law towards drug
users and small dealers, sometimes softening of
certain aspects implies hardening of others.
 Also, the agencies responsible for its implementation
have wide margins of interpretation, sometimes
allowing arbitrariness. Results are still the same: the
criminalization of the most vulnerable (Rossi &
Corda, 2013).
 Nevertheless, some local and national experiences
are taking place in Latin American countries and
cities.
National experiences on
drug policy change
President Cristina Fernández
de Kirchner, has publicly
stated that those who are
addicted should not be
“condemned as if they were
criminals” (La Nación, 2008)
The National Mental Health
Law was passed on 2010. The
new legislation shows a shift of
paradigm, as it changes a
tutelary approach to people with
mental health problems and
problematic drug use for a
human rights approach.
National experiences on drug policy
change
On August 2009, the Supreme Court
of Argentina voted unanimously in
favour of de-penalizing personal
consumption of illicit drugs, declaring
it unconstitutional to punish a person
for possessing or using illegal drugs
if it does not endanger others.
Although the Court Order specifically
refers to cannabis, it opened the
door to reform of national drug laws.
National experiences on drug policy
change
 In Bolivia, the focus has been to establish a legal regime for the
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coca leaf.
March 2009, Evo Morales sent a formal letter to UN Secretary
General calling for the abolition of two sub-articles of the 1961
Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, which specifically prohibit the
chewing of coca leaf (Jelsma, 2011).
In 2011 Bolivia resigned from the Convention to ask then their
readmission for making a reservation on the chewing of coca leaf.
In 2013, with the opposition of the Member countries of the Group of
eight and Mexico, Bolivia managed to re-enter the Convention
making the reservation on the chewing of coca leaf.
However, Morales apparently wants to avoid the misinterpretation
by the international community that the Bolivian government
condones drug use. The Bolivian law, as the Argentinean, is
repressive towards drug use and trafficking at a small-scale level.
Local experiences on drug policy change
 In September 2012, the mayor of Bogotá,
Gustavo Petro, launched the first centre for
drug addicts in the Bronx, a marginalized citycentre neighborhood.
 The people given care in these centers are in
an at-risk situation and socially excluded due
to their problematic drug use. (Quintero,
2012).
National experiences on drug policy
change
 Uruguay was characterized by having never criminalized
drug possession for personal use and expanded that
conception in the 51st Session of the Commission on
Narcotic Drugs, held in Vienna in March 2008. Uruguay
was the spokesman for a claim to the United Nations
General Assembly Special Session on the World Drug
Problem (UNGASS) 1998 revision goals. As part of that
claim, Uruguay gave impulse to the resolution "Integration
of an adequate human rights system with the United
Nations drug control policy" calling for respect for
fundamental human rights and equal access of drug users
to social and health care services. That statement was cosponsored by Argentina, Ecuador and Bolivia, also by the
European Union and Switzerland (Rossi et al., 2009).
National experiences on drug policy
change
 Uruguay’s initiative to regulate the cannabis market,
with the State in charge of production and
distribution, had gained wide recognition and support
internationally from respected public figures including
the Secretary General of the Organization of
American States, and from more than 100 drug policy
NGOs in Latin America and around the globe (IDPC,
2013).
 Uruguay would also join the U.S. states of Colorado
and Washington, whose voters approved ballot
initiatives to legalize and regulate cannabis on
Election Day in November 2012 (TNI and WOLA,
2013).
New documents on Drug Policy
Centre for Coordination of Research
International Federation of Catholic
Universities
Drug Policies in Latin America and Asia.
Towards the construction of responses
focused on human rights (September 2013)
http://www.intercambios.org.ar/publicaciones/politicas-de-drogas-enamerica-latina-y-asia/
The Report on the Drug Problem in the Americas has
its origin in the Sixth Summit of the Americas held in 2012
in the city of Cartagena, with the presence of 24
presidents of the region, who instructed the Organization
of American States the creation of a report to serve as a
starting point for discussion
Analytical Report
http://www.oas.org/documents/eng/press/Introduction_and_Analytical_Report.pdf
Scenarios Report
http://www.oas.org/documents/eng/press/Scenarios_Report.PDF
¡Muchas gracias!
www.intercambios.org.ar
“América invertida”, Joaquín Torres García, 1943