Authors: María Alejandra Vélez, Lucan Marín Llanes, Luis Felipe Cruz

There are three main types of intervention to control the supply of illicit crops, as part of the war on drugs: forced aerial eradication, forced manual eradication, and alternative development. This document briefly presents the academic evaluations of each of these interventions, the elements that the Center for Studies on Security and Drugs (CESED) and the Center for the Study of Law, Justice, and Society (Dejusticia) consider should be included in alternative development policies geared towards territorial transformation, and the way in which the design of these new policies is linked to the objectives set out by the Colombian government and the holistic counter-narcotics strategy determined by the White House. This paper discusses the effectiveness of some of the Government’s proposals on the required features of the territorial transformation programs and on the reduction of the annual coca crop eradication target.

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Author: David Restrepo

After suffering through decades of the Andean region’s most repressive, expensive, and fruitless drug war, designed and funded by the USA, Colombia is finally revolting against its historical drug policy subservience and choosing to lead the global debate on the legal regulation of drugs. On July 20,2022, Colombian Independence Day, members of the newly elected, progressive Congressional majority announced they will legalize not just adult-use cannabis, psilocybin mushrooms, and opium poppy, but also tackle perhaps the most important drug policy issue of our times: the legal regulation of coca and its derivatives. During his August 7 inauguration speech, Colombian President Gustavo Petro reiterated his commitment to legal regulation – the first time a sitting president has ever broken this lingering drug policy taboo.

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Authors: Tatiana Martínez, Edgar Castro Méndez

This document presents a summary of academic research papers on illegal drugs. All papers were published in 2018 and each one falls into one of three categories: production, trading, and consumption of illegal drugs. Descriptions and other related articles can be found in the appendix.

First, we present papers related to drug production: studies on the presence of coca crops and alkaloid processing laboratories. Colombia is perhaps the best studied country in this area. This section also reviews studies that describe how drugs are produced in the region. The second section looks at articles related to drug trafficking, focusing on transportation, international drug distribution networks, and retail activities. Most of the studies presented in this section revolve around micro-trafficking in poor neighborhoods and areas with vulnerable
populations.

Finally, we present studies on processes associated with possession and consumption of psychoactive substances. These studies do not seek to evaluate the consequences for those who consume these substances, but to quantify drug use and identify associated patterns to formulate public policy recommendations.

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Authors: Juan Pablo Castilla, Ana Arjona

What conversation topics do you think would lead to a fight with your best friend? In Latin American society, the third most recurring motive of social violence is football (Latinobarómetro 2017). The 328 deaths from football related violence in Argentina since 1992 (Salvemosalfutbol 2018) is just the tip of the iceberg. Football related violence1 in Latin America is not limited to homicides and quarrels, it is imperative to consider their role in naturalizing violence in Latin American societies.

With some exceptions, if regional public policy aimed at dealing with violence in football continues down the same path, the situation can only get worse (Puentes Sánchez 2015). The mistake made by the Latin American government entities is the stigmatization2 of organized supporters’ groups3 of professional football teams4. In doing so, they resort to coercive policies that are usually not effective and can be counterproductive.

To tackle football related violence in Latin America, we need to disentangle the relationship between violence and organized supporters’ groups through public policy aimed at creating citizen culture. To do this, we present three recommendations, based on available studies, that seek to transform the cultural conditions that foster violence in football in Latin America5: 1) create the Fan Statute; 2) renew stadium environment by improving infrastructure and replacing armed police officers with trained civilian personnel; and 3) consolidate a survey and database to monitor and evaluate the effects.

In this document we begin by explaining how a citizen culture approach differs from public security policies commonly used in Latin America. Then, we explain why violent action by organized supporters’ groups is related to cultural and identity aspects. Finally, we present three recommendations to mitigate football-related violence, responsibility for which lies with all stakeholders.

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Authors: Tatiana Martínez, Edgar Castro

In Colombia, several attempts have been made to control coca leaf production through aerial eradication, manual eradication, and voluntary crop substitution. Available results from areas throughout the country suggest that these measures have not been successful and have instead had negative effects on the population. Rigorous studies on the effectiveness of anti-drug policies indicate that measures that attack the strongest links in the value chain of the drug trade, such as seizures, have better results than eradication mechanisms. More research is needed to evaluate the impact and efficiency of sustainable development and state strengthening policies as these approaches seem to have a greater long-term impact and fewer negative side effects on civilian population, though requiring greater investment.

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Authors: Juan Pablo Castilla, Ana Arjona

This Thematic Document summarizes contributions from academic research published in Latin America during 2018 on public policy that addresses organized crime related to drug trafficking. These publications call for rethinking state interventions focused on the use of force that can result in human rights violations. Evidence shows that the most effective policies to reduce violence in the fight against organized crime are those that frame the use of legal force within social programs. It is therefore urgent that we better understand the context and dynamics of organized crime in relation to economic and cultural dimensions. In addition, the complexity of the problem of organized crime requires public policy whose potential impact and measurement are thought from long-term perspectives.

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