Droga eta Demokraziaren Latinoamerikako Batzordeak hemisferioko drogen politikan inflexio puntu bat markatzen duen txostena egin zuen.  Urtebeteko lanaren ostean, txostenak ondorioztatu du “drogaren aurkako gerra” porrot egin duen gerra dela eta osasun publikoan oinarritutako “paradigma aldaketa” bat gomendatzen du, kontsumoa murriztea eta baliabideak krimen antolatuan bideratzea.

 

The report was drawn up by a prestigious 17-member commission, chaired by former presidents Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico, Cesar Gaviria of Colombia and Fernando Enrique Cardoso of Brazil.

 

Merezi du irakurtzeak batzordearen adierazpen osoa, "Drogak eta demokrazia: paradigma aldaketarantz". Hona hemen laburpen labur bat. 

 

Txostena drogaren aurkako gerraren salaketa zorrotz batekin hasten da, zigor betearazpen neurriak azpimarratuz.

 

«Ekoizpena desagerraraztean eta droga-fluxuak etenean nahiz kontsumoaren kriminalizazioan oinarritutako politika prohibizionistek ez dute esperotako emaitzarik eman. Drogak desagerrarazteko iragarritako helburutik inoiz baino urrunago gaude».

 

At the teleconference held on Feb. 11, members of the commission criticized the "prohibitionist policies" of the past and urged formation of a Latin American policy based on harm reduction focus and collaboration with the United States and European consumer countries to reduce demand. The report lists three specific actions under the new paradigm: treat addicts as patients in the public health system, evaluate decriminalization of cannabis possession for personal use, and reduce consumption through public education campaigns primarily directed at youth.

 

The section on the expensive, bloody and largely ineffective U.S.-sponsored drug wars in the Americas is particularly damning:

 

Kolonbian, recipient of over $6 billion in U.S. drug war funds, illustrates drug policy failure:

 

"Colombia is a clear example of the shortcomings of the repressive policies promoted at the global level by the United States. For decades, Colombia implemented all conceivable measures to fight the drug trade in a massive effort whose benefits were not proportional to the vast amount of resources invested and the human costs involved. Despite the country’s significant achievements in fighting the drug cartels and lowering the levels of violence and crime, the areas of illegal cultivation are again expanding as well as the flow of drugs coming out of Colombia and the region."

 

Mexikon, which has just begun to receive drug war training and equipment from the U.S. government under the Merida Ekimena, berandu baino lehen bidea aldatzeko aukera gisa ikusten da: 

 

"Mexico has quickly become the other epicenter of the violent activities carried out by the criminal groups associated with the narcotics trade. This raises challenges for the Mexican government in its struggle against the drug cartels that have supplanted the Colombian traffickers as the main suppliers of illicit drugs to the United States market. Mexico is thus well positioned to ask the government and institutions of American society to engage in a dialogue about the policies currently pursued by the US as well as to call upon the countries of the European Union to undertake a greater effort aimed at reducing domestic drug consumption. The traumatic Colombian experience is a useful reference for countries not to make the mistake of adopting the US prohibitionist policies and to move forward in the search for innovative alternatives."  

 

Although it stops short of mentioning the Merida Initiative and Plan Colombia by name, the report makes it clear that given the poor results, military/police programs like these that stress enforcement and interdiction should be seriously reevaluated and reoriented. The commission criticizes the high costs in violence, and corruption among police forces and politicians within countries employing the war and drugs strategy.

 

Referring to another aspect of the drug wars that has sparked controversy in Latin America, the report says this about efforts to eradicate cultivation of illicit drugs:

 

"Garrantzitsua da laborantza alternatiboaz hitz egiteaz gain aukera zabala planteatzea, besteak beste, lan-modu alternatiboen garapen soziala, hezkuntza demokratikoa eta parte-hartze testuinguruan irtenbideak bilatzea. Horrelako ekimenek ere kontuan izan behar dute. Landareen legezko erabilerak, hala nola, koka-hostoa, arbasoen erabilera tradizio luzea duten herrialdeetan, droga-ekoizpenerako input gisa ustiatzearen fenomenoa baino lehen, neurriak hartu behar dira arbaso mota honetara ekoizpena zorrotz egokitzeko erabili". 

 

Arbasoen erabileraren zilegitasuna onartze hutsa aurrerapauso bat da. Oraingoan, erreferentzia inplizitua Evo Morales presidentearen Boliviako gobernuari dagokio. “Coca sí, Kokaina ez" politikek talka egin zuten AEBetako DEA desagerrarazteko ahalegin politizatuekin, punturaino DEA debekatu zuten herrialdean jardutetik. Hemen ere txostenak aspaldiko eztabaida irekitzen du, gizarteari eta ingurumenari egindako kalte kolateralak emaitza eskasengatik justifikatu ezin diren politikei buruz.

 

The goal of the commission report is to build a united Latin American platform on drug policy. When asked if they thought they could accomplish that by the time the Vienna conference is slated to reach an agreement on a new 10-year UN policy, Commission members noted that only the Colombian government has explicitly balked at the proposed paradigm shift.

 

But it also targets its message to the U.S. government, which in the past has tried to impose the drug war model on its Latin American allies:

 

"[The U.S.] policy of massive incarceration of drug users, questionable both in terms of respect for human rights and its efficiency, is hardly applicable to Latin America, given the penal system’s overpopulation and material conditions. This repressive policy also facilitates consumer extortion and police corruption. The United States allocates a much larger proportion of resources to eradication and interdiction as well as to maintaining its legal and penal system than to investments in health, prevention, treatment and the rehabilitation of drug users."

 

Une honetan datorren Batzordearen mezuak Obamaren administrazioak huts egindako politikak berriro ebaluatzeko jarrera irekiagoa izango duen itxaropena islatzen du.

 

That hope is not unfounded. The Obama administration had a few false starts on the issue, reflecting more the built-in inertia of Washington than its own policies. Earlier this month, the U.S. delegation reportedly kalteak murrizteko neurriak blokeatu at talks toward a new UN strategy in Vienna. Then, a series of DEAren erasoak marihuana medikoari buruz providers in California raised questions about Obama’s commitment to respect state laws on the matter.

 

Beldur horiek zertxobait baretu dira azken bi egunetan. Nazioarteko frontean, Obamak publikoki hautsi zuen Bush administrazioaren "tolerantzia zero" ildotik eta iragarri zuen orratzak trukatzeko laguntza, nahiz eta oraindik ere "kalteak murriztea" "termino anbiguotzat" jo zuen.

 

Etxean, Obamak kritika jaso zuen kanpainako promesen eta gobernu federalaren marihuana medikoaren aurkako errepresioari buruzko aldaketarik ez zuen errealitatearen arteko kontraesanagatik. Etxe Zuria bozeramaile Nick Shapirok adierazi zuen marihuana medikoen erasoek ez zutela jarraituko:

 

"Lehendakariak uste du baliabide federalak ez direla erabili behar estatuko legeak saihesteko, eta gobernu federalaren mailak betetzeko goi-zuzendaritzak izendatzen jarraitzen duen heinean, haien politikak hori kontuan hartuta berrikustea espero du".

 

Now the Seattle press is speculating that Seattleko polizia burua Gil Kerlikowske, will be appointed national drug czar. This would be another important sign a changing tide. Kerlikowske worked in law enforcement in Washington state, a state that marihuana medikoa erabiltzea baimentzen du and in Seattle, a city that approved a measure to give marijuana "lowest enforcement priority".  Drug policy reform groups have celebrated his probable nomination.

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