The leaders of several Latin American nations on the frontlines of the battle against drugs said on Tuesday that a California ballot measure to legalize marijuana would send a contradictory message from the US.
Next Tuesday’s election in California was a key topic as Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos hosted the presidents of Mexico and three other countries at a one-day summit.
Santos said that if Californians approve Proposition 19, it would require reviewing the principles that have long underpinned efforts to combat drugs in Latin America with support from Washington.
“How can I tell a farmer in my country that if he grows marijuana, I’ll put him in jail, when in the richest state of the United States it’s legal to produce, traffic and consume the same product?” Santos said in an interview broadcast on Sunday by the Colombian radio station Caracol.
A final statement from the summit’s participants urged drug--consuming nations to form “consistent and congruent” anti-drug policies.
“They cannot support criminalizing these activities in this or that country, while at the same time [supporting] the open or veiled legalization of the production and consumption of drugs in their own territories,” the declaration said.
Officials in US President Barack Obama’s administration have said the US federal government will continue to pursue its -counter-drug policies and that they are looking at options for responding to the measure, which would conflict with federal laws classifying marijuana as an illegal drug.
Santos discussed the issue during a meeting on Monday with US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, who confirmed Washington’s opposition to legalizing marijuana and pledged to keep up counter-drug cooperation with Colombia.
“It’s confusing for our people to see that, while we lose lives and invest resources in the fight against drug trafficking, in consuming countries initiatives like California’s referendum are being promoted,” Santos said during a speech on Tuesday. “If we don’t act consistently in this matter, if all we’re doing is sending our citizens to prison while in other latitudes the market is legalized, then we should ask ourselves: Isn’t it time to revise the global strategy toward drugs?”
Santos’ position was echoed by Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who didn’t directly mention the California vote, but said: “It’s not possible to face [drug trafficking] effectively from our national borders in an isolated manner.”
In a recent interview, Calderon said the California ballot initiative reflects a “terrible inconsistency” in US drug policy.
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