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The presidents of Colombia and Mexico announced that they will be bringing together other Latin American leaders for an international conference focused on on \u201credesigning and rethinking drug policy\u201d given the \u201cfailure\u201d of prohibition.<\/p>\n
As lawmakers in both countries work to advance marijuana legalization, Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Mexican President Andr\u00e9s Manuel L\u00f3pez Obrador said in a joint statement on Friday that they recently met to discuss \u201cgeopolitical, commercial, cultural and development cooperation\u201d in their bilateral relationship.<\/p>\n
Part of that effort will involve collaborating with the broader international community to forge a new path on the drug policy front\u2014a topic that Petro has frequently discussed since taking office earlier this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cRecognizing the failure of the fight against drugs and the vulnerability of our peoples in the face of this problem, Mexico and Colombia will convene an International Conference of Latin American leaders with the objective of redesigning and rethinking drug policy,\u201d the counties announced in a joint statement following Petro\u2019s visit to Mexico last week, according to a translation.<\/p>\n
It is one of more than a dozen priorities for the \u201cbilateral agenda\u201d outlined by the presidents.<\/p>\n
While the statement<\/a> is light on specifics, the reference to the \u201cfailure\u201d of the drug war\u2014as well as both presidents\u2019 past comments on the need for reform\u2014signals that the international discussions will largely center on moving away from a criminalization model for drugs.<\/p>\n En su primera visita a M\u00e9xico como Pdte., @PetroGustavo<\/a>, le habl\u00f3 a la comunidad colombiana en este pa\u00eds, se refiri\u00f3, entre otros, a la pol\u00edtica antidrogas: “el balance americano desde Alaska hasta la Patagonia en estos \u00faltimos 50 a\u00f1os es un desastre”. #ColombiaEnM\u00e9xico<\/a> \u2014 Presidencia Colombia \u00a0<\/p>\n Petro said<\/a> that the international cooperation on a way forward from the war on drugs is important, \u201cgiven the levels of violence that the current policy has unleashed, especially in the American continent.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are killing each other,\u201d the Colombian president said<\/a> in a statement ahead of his meetings with L\u00f3pez Obrador. \u201cAnd it is the product of prohibition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Petro has been especially outspoken about the issue since winning the presidency. For example, he delivered a speech at a meeting of the United Nations (UN)<\/a> in September, urging member nations to fundamentally change their approaches to drug policy and disband with prohibition.<\/p>\n He also recently talked about the prospects of legalizing marijuana in Colombia<\/a> as one means of reducing the influence of the illicit market.\u00a0And he signaled that the policy change should be followed by releasing people who are currently in prison over cannabis.<\/p>\n To that end, Colombian senators approved a cannabis legalization bill in committee<\/a> last week, following its advancement in the country\u2019s Chamber of Representatives.<\/p>\n Prior to the Senate action, Colombian Justice Minister N\u00e9stor Osuna said at a public hearing that the country has been the victim<\/a> of \u201ca failed war that was designed 50 years ago and, due to absurd prohibitionism, has brought us a lot of blood, armed conflict, mafias and crime.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a U.S. congressional delegation\u00a0returned from a visit to Colombia last month<\/a>, and a congressman who was part of the trip told Marijuana Moment that one theme of his discussions with officials in the country was that the world has \u201clost the war on drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n In Mexico, a top Senate official recently said that she\u2019s heard from a colleague who visited leaders in several Latin American countries, and they\u2019re consistently asking about the status of Mexico\u2019s efforts<\/a> to legislatively end prohibition and set up a regulated marijuana market.<\/p>\n Separately, Mexican Sen. Patricia Mercado noted the new joint drug reform commitment made by her country\u2019s president and the president of Colombia, saying that policy can be transformed, including by legalizing cannabis, \u201cif there is political will.\u201d<\/p>\n El primer paso para que M\u00e9xico transforme su pol\u00edtica de drogas est\u00e1 listo para darse, si hay voluntad pol\u00edtica. \u2014 Patricia Mercado (@Pat_MercadoC) November 26, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The country\u2019s Supreme Court ruled in 2018\u00a0that<\/a> the prohibition on cannabis possession and cultivation for personal use is unconstitutional.<\/p>\n Senate Majority Leader Ricardo Monreal, an advocate for reform, said in August that enacting regulations for cannabis will (again) be among the top legislative priorities of Congress in the new session.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been about four years since the nation\u2019s highest court deemed prohibition unconstitutional, leaving it up to Congress to follow up with a policy change, accordingly. But lawmakers have so far been unable to reach a consensus on legislation to put in place regulations for a cannabis program.<\/p>\n At the request of legislators, the court agreed to extend its deadline for Congress to formally end prohibition on multiple occasions.\u00a0But because of the\u00a0repeated failed attempts to meet those deadlines<<\/a>\u00a0, justices\u00a0\u00a0ultimately voted to end criminalization on their own<\/a>\u00a0last year.<\/p>\n Mexico\u2019s president said in late 2020 that a vote on legalization legislation was\u00a0delayed due to minor \u201cmistakes\u201d in the proposal<\/a>.<\/p>\n While the new joint statement from both country leaders talked about convening a conference for Latin American nations, it\u2019s likely that the conversation will also take into account developments in the U.S., where President Joe Biden recently issued a mass marijuana pardon and directed a scheduling review.<\/p>\n U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) cheered the official swearing in of Petro<\/a> in August, saying that he looks forward to \u201cworking together to\u2026rethink drug policy, and much more.\u201d<\/p>\n A top Mexican senator separately said last year that \u201cthere is\u00a0no longer room for the prohibitionist policy.\u00a0<\/a>\u201d And she also said that the influence of the\u00a0U.S .is to blame for failed marijuana criminalization laws<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0in her country.<\/p>\n Where The New Republican And Democratic Congressional Leaders Stand On Marijuana<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Colombian And Mexican Presidents Announce International Effort To Reshape Drug Policy, Condemning \u2018Failure\u2019 Of Prohibition<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The presidents of Colombia and Mexico announced that they will be bringing together other Latin American leaders for an international conference focused on on \u201credesigning and rethinking drug policy\u201d given the \u201cfailure\u201d of prohibition. As lawmakers in both countries work to advance marijuana legalization, Colombian President Gustavo Petro and MexicanContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":58627,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58626"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58626"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58626\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58628,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58626\/revisions\/58628"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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pic.twitter.com\/07DS6okDO5<\/a><\/p>\n![\"🇨🇴\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/1f1e8-1f1f4-4.png\")
(@infopresidencia) November 25, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n
Despu\u00e9s de 3 a\u00f1os, la regulaci\u00f3n de la #cannabis<\/a> qued\u00f3 en suspenso en el Congreso pero el trabajo est\u00e1 hecho. Se puede destrabar ya.https:\/\/t.co\/1d6um4Ejoa<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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\nRead More: Colombian And Mexican Presidents Announce International Effort To Reshape Drug Policy, Condemning \u2018Failure\u2019 Of Prohibition<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"