HomeNewsAnalysisColombia Drug Possession Decree Misses Mark
ANALYSIS

Colombia Drug Possession Decree Misses Mark

COLOMBIA / 12 OCT 2018 BY ANNA GRACE EN

The seizure of more than 7 metric tons of drugs from users in nine days in Colombia after a decree effectively banning personal drug use has been heralded a success by authorities. However, questions remain as to whether targeting drug users will prove effective in tackling the root causes of Colombia’s drug problems.

An October 1 decree by Colombian President Iván Duque authorized police to confiscate and destroy any quantity of drugs found on a person, abolishing the Constitutional Court given right for users to carry small doses of drugs for personal use.

Under the decree, people found with less than 20 grams of marijuana, 1 gram of cocaine or 2 grams of synthetic drugs can be fined 208,000 Colombian pesos (almost $70), the equivalent of around one week’s minimum wage in Colombia.

Those found with more than the minimum dose can be detained and referred to judicial authorities. A court hearing would determine whether confiscated supplies correspond to personal possession or intent to sell.

SEE ALSO: Colombia News and Profiles

In the nine days after the decree was signed, authorities confiscated 7.2 metric tons of narcotics across Colombia, El Colombiano reported. Police also levied fines against 8,012 citizens and arrested 718 people.

“We are going to go after dealers on the street, and we are going to prosecute them,” President Duque announced at a press conference last week, stating that the decree would form an integral part of his new drug policy.

However, the decree has proved controversial. The Council of State will now decide whether to nullify the decree, after members of Congress launched an initiative to request the removal of the article allowing police to confiscate drug quantities below minimum dose. Congress members state the decree violates various aspects of the constitution and puts consumers at risk, El Tiempo reported.

InSight Crime Analysis

The effective ban on drug consumption indicates the beginning of President Duque’s move towards a more hardline, repressive drug policy of the kind that has traditionally had little success in Colombia. The decree is more likely to affect low-level users than combat rising consumption and microtrafficking.

Duque’s approach, which goes against growing international consensus towards more regulatory or preventative policies that focus on users' safety and lessen the dominance of criminal organizations, is likely to do little less than criminalize users.

His approach presents a number of practical problems.

Firstly, Colombia can hardly afford to increase its prison population.

Prisons across the country are operating at almost 50 percent overcapacity, with 36,452 more people currently awaiting sentence, according to El Espectador. Such figures indicate that neither the penitentiary nor the judicial systems have the capacity or resources to handle the increase in inmates that will result from President Duque’s new decree.

SEE ALSO: InDepth Coverage of Prisons

Secondly, this punitive approach does not take into consideration the root causes of consumption and trafficking, without which tackling the problem is close to impossible.

“The decree will not help to reduce consumption, and could have the adverse effect with regards to distribution,” Professor Yesid Reyes Alvarado of the Externado University of Colombia told Semana. “Consumers are going to buy back every gram that is confiscated from them.”

According to the Colombian Drug Observatory (Observatorio de Drogas de Colombia - ODC), the focus must be on improving the living conditions and social integration of those affected by the local illicit drug market. The imprisonment of low-level offenders, recreational users and addicts can further isolate the subject and increase their susceptibility to involvement in criminal behavior.

At a time when Colombian criminal groups are increasingly stimulating drug markets within the local population, finding social solutions is perhaps more important than ever.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

ARGENTINA / 8 FEB 2023

InSight Crime's 2022 Homicide Round-Up covers more countries than ever before, with a major expansion into nations of the Caribbean.

AUC / 26 OCT 2021

Accused Colombian trafficker Dairo Antonio Úsuga, alias “Otoniel,” has been on the radar of US prosecutors for more than a…

COLOMBIA / 23 JUL 2021

Once belonging to the demobilized FARC, certain criminal groups seek to reconquer surrendered assets, driving a wave of violence in…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report continues to be a reference in the region

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Paraguay Election Coverage Draws Attention 

5 MAY 2023

InSight Crime looked at the various anti-organized crime policies proposed by the candidates in Paraguay’s presidential election, which was won on April 30 by Santiago Peña. Our pre-election coverage was cited…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in OAS, CARICOM Reports

28 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s work was cited nine times in a new report by the Organization of American States (OAS) titled “The Impact of Organized Crime on Women,…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Staff Cited as Experts by International Media

21 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime deputy editor, Juan Diego Posada, was interviewed by the Associated Press about connections between the ex-FARC mafia and Brazilian criminal groups, and…