President of Colombia has proposed legalizing marijuana and coca leaves
The President of Colombia has proposed legalizing marijuana and coca leaves as a way to curb the consumption of fentanyl.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro met with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, on Monday.
During the meeting, the Colombian President proposed the legalization of marijuana and coca leaves as a new strategy in the fight against drugs, ahead of his speech at the 78th United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The President stated that with the emergence of fentanyl in the illicit drug market, cannabis and coca leaves “can definitively move away from prohibition.” He noted, “The emergence of fentanyl provides an opportunity for certain substances that were previously considered illicit, such as cannabis, which is sold in stores in New York, right here next to the UN, except it’s not made in Colombia, to the detriment of our country,” Petro said.
In addition to marijuana, the President of Colombia included the controversial coca leaf in the proposal.
“The coca leaf, which can also be used for other purposes, can definitively move away from prohibition, authorized by a series of resolutions from a specific United Nations commission. We ask that this be definitively resolved,” Petro said, according to a statement from the Presidency of Colombia.
President of Colombia has proposed legalizing marijuana and coca leaves
Petro believes that this proposal is a way to address the consumption of fentanyl, a drug that has been responsible for many deaths.
“You know that there is an emergence of fentanyl, chemical drugs, industrial production, which no longer use plants or soil, and that removes Colombia. For us, this is a substantial opportunity to exit the drug market,” Petro said.
Furthermore, the President of Colombia proposed holding two peace conferences for Ukraine.
President Gustavo Petro proposed before the United Nations to “end the war” and urged the UN to “sponsor two peace conferences as soon as possible: one on Ukraine and the other on Palestine.”
He emphasized that ending the war is necessary to have the time to save ourselves.
“These conferences would teach us how to make peace in all regions of the planet because both would put an end to the hypocrisy as a political practice, allowing us to be sincere, a virtue without which we cannot be warriors of life,” the Colombian President stated.
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