Topics: Drugs, Food and Drink, Health, Politics, World News
Colombia's president Gustavo Petro has argued the best way to 'dismantle' the drug trafficking industry while comparing cocaine to whiskey and fentanyl.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime states in its 2023 Global Report of Cocaine that the 'global supply of cocaine is at record levels' and 'the world's supply of cocaine originates virtually entirely in South America, specifically in the three countries of Bolivia, Colombia and Peru'.
And the President of South America's Colombia has suggested how the 'business' of drug trafficking could be 'easily dismantled'.
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The UN Office on Drugs and Crime's report reads: "In 2021, cultivation in Colombia increased sharply by 43 percent and potential manufacture of cocaine also increased significantly by 14 percent, reaching record levels in both cases."
"Colombia continues to account for the largest share of the area under coca bush cultivation and potential manufacturing of cocaine," it adds.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse also states there's been a rise in cocaine-related deaths in the last six years, with 2022 seeing 27,569 deaths recorded.
In a live-streamed government meeting which lasted six hours addressing the issue, Petro argued the drug is 'illegal because it is made in Latin America, not because it is worse than whisky' and claimed 'scientists have analyzed this'.
The president then went on to compare cocaine to fentanyl - a drug contributing to the opioid crisis in the US which saw 73,838 overdose deaths reported in 2022, as per the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
"[Fentanyl is] killing Americans but it's not made in Colombia," Petro added, reflecting on fentanyl as being 'created as a pharmacy drug by North American multinationals'.
Petro ultimately argued 'if somebody wants peace, the business [of drug trafficking] has to be dismantled'.
How? Well, he suggested: "It could be easily dismantled if they legalized cocaine in the world. It would be sold like wine."
Petro has vowed to tackle drug trafficking since he assumed office in 2022, however, the UN's Office on Drugs and Crime report from 2023 states 'the main markets for cocaine worldwide are North America, Western and Central Europe, followed by South and Central America and the Caribbean' with 'North America and Western and Central Europe remain the largest destination markets for cocaine'.
It states the 'cultivation doubled between 2013 and 2017, peaked in 2018 and rose sharply again in 2021'.
However, the report also notes: "In parallel, law enforcement agencies are seizing greater amounts of cocaine. Preliminary figures for 2021 suggest a very sharp rise in seizures. In recent years, seizures showed an underlying upward trend across most regions, punctuated by a 'bump' brought about by COVID."
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