This Friday, September 15, announced the decision of the United States to certify Colombia in the fight against drugs.
This is one of the most obvious steps in support of Colombia. This is an important issue for the spending of resources approved by the United States for the country every year and that the Minister of Justice, Néstor Osuna, confirmed in Washington DC that it has the pre-approval of the US Senate.
In this case, the necessary certification comes from the law that is approved by the legislature every year and that includes some conditions that must be fulfilled in Colombia in order, precisely, to receive resources from the United States.
However, the decision continues a concern about illicit trade and the fact that coca crops remain at historically high levels.
It should be noted that W Radio revealed, for the first time, the complete document containing the Petro Government’s new drug policy.
The 80-page document mentions that “Colombia’s National Drug Policy (2023-2033) recognizes that, despite the efforts made for more than half a century in the fight against drugs, the results are not as expected . The production of illegal drugs is at an all-time high, the global demand for old and new psychoactive substances has increased, and criminal networks continue to expand their profits.”
In the same line, it is said that the Drug Policy has a strategy deployed from two channels which the Government calls ‘Oxygen’ and ‘Asphyxia’
‘Oxygen’
As they explain, this route is special for territories and populations that are “disproportionately affected by the illegal drug market.”
The three priorities of this pillar, according to the document, are:
- “Support the comprehensive transition towards licit economies and the reduction of vulnerabilities in territories and populations (rural and urban) that depend on and are affected by the illegal drug market,” thus changing the economic situation of same population.
- “Implement environmental management and climate action measures” to, the document says, “conservation and restoration of areas that, directly and indirectly, are affected by the illicit drug economy.”
- Finally, the last priority is to “solve the consumption of psychoactive substances from a public health and rights approach.”
‘asphyxiation’
On the other hand, this second road is linked to the criminal spectrum in “where the military, police and punitive efforts will concentrate on the strategic nodes of the criminal system, which are those that generate violence and profit in a greater proportion from this illegal .economics.
