Colombian leader: "It makes no sense" to jail peasant over marijuana
He wouldn’t be against legalizing drugs if the world viewed it as a solution
CBS News (US)
Sunday, December 11, 2016
Sunday, December 11, 2016
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos used the Nobel podium in Norway to reiterate his call to "rethink" the war on drugs. "It makes no sense to imprison a peasant who grows marijuana, when nowadays, its cultivation and use are legal in eight states of the United States," he said. The decades-old war on drugs has produced enormous violence and environmental damage in nations that supply cocaine, and needs to be supplanted by a global focus on easing laws prohibiting consumption. His remarks reflected views he’s held as far back as at least 2012, when he discussed his ideas for new approaches in the drug war in a Guardian interview.
