Different Worlds: The U.S. and Latin America on Drug Reform

With a major decision from its Supreme Court on Tuesday, Argentina seems poised to join many neighbors in Central and South America by decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of drugs. The court ruled that the arrests of five people for marijuana possession was unconstitutional, and the decision is expected to clear the way for legislation the decriminalization of personal possession- a reform supported by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (above).

Mexico last week also decriminalized the possession of small amounts of drugs, drawing praise from reformers around the world and - of course - fear and criticism from the U.S. In recent years Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru have also relaxed laws against drug possession.

These moves are more than welcome as more leaders accept that the global war on drugs has been a failure, and they will reduce prison overcrowding and hopefully expand opportunities for treatment. But they fall short in one big way: they don't address the violence and crime associated with the drug supply. I tend to agree with Jack Cole of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, who said in yesterday's Q&A that he supports " any policy about drugs that will reduce death, disease, crime or addiction," but that only legalization will truly address the crime.

"When you decriminalize," he said "You only decriminalize for the user, everyone else in that chain is still a criminal."

The outbreak of drug-related violence in recent months in Mexico won't be stopped by decriminalization. Perhaps in the long-term decriminalization will reduce drug use by focusing on treatment, but we need more immediate action to address the violence in the supply chain. I hope that Latin America's decriminalization is a step toward legalization - when these policies show that allowing personal use of drugs doesn't bring the world to an end, then we can begin the discussion of legalizing these substances and regulating the supply chain and collapsing the insane profits that draw organized crime to the drug trade in the first place.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is still content with fighting a war against the drug supply in South America while failing to address demand here at home. The U.S. ambassador to Colombia announced this week that we'll spend another half billion dollars on Plan Colombia next year. So as Latin America countries experiment with sweeping drug policy reforms, we'll keep bringing our drug war to them.