Colombia and Mexico to work together to reshape drug policies

The presidents of Colombia and Mexico have announced that they will bring together other Latin American leaders for an international conference to «redefine and rethink drug policy» in the light of the «failure» of prohibition.

As lawmakers in both countries work to advance cannabis legalization, Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said on Friday. in a joint press release that they had recently met to discuss «geopolitical, trade, cultural and development cooperation» as part of their bilateral relations.

Part of this effort will involve working with the wider international community to break new ground on the anti-drug policy front, a subject Mr. Petro has frequently addressed since taking office earlier this year.

«Recognizing the failure of the fight against drugs and the vulnerability of our peoples to this problem, Mexico and Colombia will convene an international conference of Latin American leaders with the aim of redefining and rethinking drug policy,» the two countries announced in a joint statement following Mr Petro's visit to Mexico last week.

This is one of more than a dozen 'bilateral agenda» priorities defined by the Presidents.

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Although the statement is not very specific, the reference to the 'failure» of the war on drugs - as well as past comments by both presidents on the need for reform - indicates that international discussions will largely focus on abandoning the drug criminalization model.

Mr. Petro said that international cooperation on the way out of the war on drugs is important, «given the levels of violence that current policy has unleashed, particularly on the American continent.»

«We're killing each other,» the Colombian president said in a statement before his meetings with Lopez Obrador. «And that's the product of prohibition».

Since his election to the presidency, Mr. Petro has been particularly outspoken on the issue. For example, he has delivered a speech at a United Nations meeting (UN) in September, in which he urged member nations to fundamentally change their approach to drug policy and end prohibition.

He also recently spoke of prospects for cannabis legalization in Colombia as a means of reducing the influence of the illicit market. And he indicated that this change in policy should be followed by the release of those currently imprisoned for cannabis.

To this end, Colombian senators last week approved in committee, a bill on the legalization of cannabis, after his promotion to the country's House of Representatives.