Bolivia Breaks with U.S. Policy, But Not the War on Drugs

Bolivian President Evo Morales has gained a reputation as a fiercely independent, unapologetically left-wing leader since he took office in 2006. But when it comes to the war on drugs, Morales' policies -- with a few notable exceptions -- have been anything but progressive.

That might come as a surprise. Morales has, after all, kicked the DEA out of Bolivia and liberalized the treatment of coca production (chewing coca leaves is an age-old tradition of people in the Andean region), moves that spurred the Bush administration to suspend a trade agreement with the country -- the world's third largest cocaine producer -- amid claims his government wasn't doing to enough to stop drug trafficking.

However, even as he has denounced U.S. hegemony in the region and permitted greater coca (but not cocaine) production, Morales is continuing to pursue an American-style drug war in Bolivia. "Indeed, illicit drug seizures have increased significantly under the Morales governments," writes Coletta Youngers of the Washington Office on Latin America.

And while countries like Argentina and Mexico have begun embracing decriminalization, the Bolivian government continues to fill its jails with non-violent drug offenders. In 2009, just under a third of the nation's prisoners were incarcerated for drug offenses -- 80 percent in San Pedro prison, the country's largest. A stunning 75 percent of Bolivia's prisoners have never actually been sentenced.

And while Morales has changed some things for the better under his administration's policy of "coca yes, cocaine no," much to the disdain of the White House, "the modifications have been centered around the regulation of coca cultivations," notes Pien Metaal of the Transnational Institute (TNI), "not on the tremendous repercussions of the law on the prison situation and the criminal justice system."

Indeed, Bolivia's leftist government hasn't done much "to open the discussion toward a more humane legislative framework for drug control," notes an overview of the country's drug policies compiled by the institute. And Bolivia is in serious need of having that discussion. Under current law, marijuana and other drugs are strictly prohibited, with possessions of even small amounts punishable "with internment and forced treatment." Drug trafficking -- defined as possession of more than a "personal" amount of drugs, as determined by "two experts from a public institution for drug-dependence" -- is punishable by a minimum of 10 and as much as 25 years behind bars, assuming the authorities ever get around to formally sentencing someone. (Read more after the jump.)

Beyond needlessly jailing thousands of mostly low-level dealers, Bolivia's drug policies -- enshrined in Law 1008, passed back in 1988 under pressure from the U.S. -- simply aren't achieving any of their stated goals. Not only is Bolivia exporting more cocaine than ever, but Bolivians are using drugs at a higher rate than their neighbors in Ecuador and Peru.

Evo Morales has instituted long-overdue land reforms and other policies aimed at improving the position of Bolivia's long persecuted indigenous population. And as a former coca grower himself, he's well aware that the drug war has hurt his nation's poor subsistence farmers a lot more than actual drug traffickers. But if he wants to live up to his reputation as a social reformer, Morales needs to tackle his country's regressive drug laws and the scandalous prison conditions they have created.

And the U.S. could even help push Morales and other Latin American leaders along. How? For starters, by giving the go-ahead to countries like Bolivia to craft drug policies of their own choosing without fear they'll draw the ire of -- and lose trade privileges with -- the region's leading economic and military power.

However, the single greatest thing the U.S. could do to put an end to regressive drug laws in Latin America would be to first end them at home. As the world's largest consumer of cocaine, U.S. demand is what drives the huge profits that fuel the region's narco-traffickers and rebel groups like the FARC in Colombia. Legalizing the sale and consumption of cocaine would eviscerate those profits -- the government or the legitimate companies that would emerge under legalization wouldn't incur costs smuggling their product past customs, obviously -- and by extension, eliminate the perceived need for and public pressure to impose repressive drug laws.

Successive U.S. administrations pressured Latin American leaders into imposing many of the draconian drug laws that continue to plague the region to this day. In light of the damage those laws have caused, helping spur a movement to overturn them would be a great way for U.S. officials to start making amends.

Photo Credit: Alex Quistberg