Colombia presents to the United States new anti-drug policy 2023-2030

The Colombian Government presented this Monday to USA the new policy against drugsan initiative based on pursuing large drug traffickers and support farmers, and with which it plans to reduce cocaine production by 40% to 900 tons per year.

The presentation was made at the III Meeting of the Colombia-United States Anti-Narcotics Working Group, which began this Monday in Bogotá and will end on Tuesday.

“The results of the traditional forms of combat and fight against drug trafficking have not provided to date a comprehensive response that our society demands and that is expected of the institutions as a whole,” said Deputy Minister of Multilateral Affairs Elizabeth Taylor during the setting up of the meeting.

Taylor explained that the Colombian Government is committed to “a true total and economic peace” and that means fighting drug trafficking, especially those who profit the most from this crime.

“We do not seek to coexist with drug trafficking but rather attack those stages of production and trafficking where profits are concentrated and thus be able to eradicate it”said the senior official, quoted in a statement from her office.

Currently Colombia is the country with the most hectares cultivated with coca – 230,000 last year according to calculations by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) – and the one that produces the most cocaine, 1,738 tons.

The Minister of Justice, Néstor Osuna, said that the new 2023-2033 policy plans to reduce cocaine production by 40%, that is, to 900 tons per year and the number of cultivated hectares would also decrease by 40%, that is , from 230,000, more or less, to 150,000 cultivated hectares.

Deputy Minister Taylor assured that this new drug policy “It is an initial step towards a more realistic and fair approach in which we prioritize the consolidation of peace and the care of life and in which we reduce the vulnerabilities that can be generated by the cultivation, production and trafficking of illicit drugs.”

Taylor also stressed that the problems associated with drugs require a multidisciplinary, comprehensive approach that is assumed as a common and shared responsibility and highlighted that the United States plays a vital role in this.

“The strategic alliance that unites the two states has made it possible to address the comprehensive drug problem, a cross-cutting issue in our bilateral relationship, sharing common issues and always dealing with this challenge in a responsible and supportive manner.”he highlighted.

Maximize discussions

For his part, the deputy director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Adam Cohen, said that this space will allow “maximize discussions to create a holistic and collaborative approach to address progressive challenges to stability.”

This “Dialogue will chart the path so that we can establish cooperation in such a way that we can mitigate the harmful effects of drug and narcotics trafficking and the use of these substances can threaten the well-being of our populations and our environments and institutions.” ”.

The Anti-Narcotics Working Group was created within the framework of the VIII High-Level Dialogue, which took place in 2019 in Washington DC with the objective of following up on bilateral commitments related to the world drug problem.

Source: EFE