Illicit Drug Consumption, ¿ Prohibition or Regulation? Comparative Policy Analysis of the Colombian Case

Abstract

The Colombian government, headed by President Alvaro Uribe, blames sentence C-221/94, which allows the personal dose consumption, to be the cause of an increase of illicit drugs consumption in the country. However, a comparative policy analysis of the experiences of Holland and Spain, in which the personal dose consumption is allowed and the illegal drugs’ consumption has been reduced remarkably, makes this statement questionable and even allows us to state that the Government is ignoring a very important fact: since 2002, in Colombia there has not existed a public policy oriented to the drug use. The Democratic Security Policy just oriented the Government efforts to decrease the offer.