EDITORIAL: “Una lucha que sigue perdida” (El Tiempo, CO)

The 2012 report issued last week from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime shows how little progress has been made on the war on drugs, and El Tiempo’s editorial from today goes through the report’s findings.

According to the UNODC, the global production and consumption of drugs has been stable, but crime and corruption derivied from them have increased, and  approximately 200,000 people are dying every year from health problems resulting from the use of drugs.

Between 2006 and 2010 there was a reduction in the production of cocaine, thanks to the decrease of its fabrication in Colombia.  However, right now there are more than 64,000 hectares of coca crops in the country, an increase of 2.000 hectares since 2010.

Currently, 244 million people in the world consume drugs, and the use of synthetic drugs has risen.  Between 13 and 19 million people use cocaine, especially in the U.S and Europe, and between 119 and 224 million use marihuana.

These are some of the examples that the editorial cites, and it ends by pointing out that as long as there are consumers willing to pay for drugs, there will also be producers able to do whatever is necessary to make and distribute them.

The statistics are clear, and it is now a concern of  governments, who should rethink the problem by taking into account past failures and developing new strategies. (link to the article)