Bogot, Colombia:
Cocaine “is not worse than whiskey” and is only illegal because it comes from Latin America, said Colombian president Gustavo Petro during a live broadcast of a government meeting. Colombia is the largest producer and exporter of cocaine in the world, mainly for the United States and Europe, and has spent decades fighting drug trafficking.
During a six -hour ministerial meeting, broadcast live for the first time, the leftist president said: “Cocaine is illegal because it is done in Latin America, not because it is worse than whiskey.”
“Scientists have analyzed this. Cocaine is not worse than whiskey,” he added, suggesting that the world cocaine industry could be “easily dismantled” if the drug was legalized throughout the world.
“If you want peace, you have to dismantle the business (drug trafficking),” he said. “It could easily dismantle if they legalize cocaine in the world. It would be sold as wine.”
Petro also pointed out that the fentanyl “is killing Americans and is not done in Colombia”, referring to opioids responsible for around 75,000 deaths in the United States per year, according to official data.
“Fentanyl was created as a drug drug by the multinationals of North America” and those who consumed it “became addicted,” he added.
Since he came to power in 2022, Petro has tried to make peace with all armed groups that are fed by drug trafficking in the hope of finishing six decades of conflict.
Cocaine production in Colombia reached a record in 2023, jumping 53 percent to 2,600 tons, according to the UN office on drugs and crimes.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a feed union).
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