By Jorge G. Castañeda
MEXICO CITY – Latin America and the United States have experienced what one could call a series of “marijuana moments” over the past few weeks. Given growing support for ending the senseless and bloody decades-long “war on drugs,” these signs of progress toward decriminalisation and legalisation should not pass unremarked.
The first moment took place during the Organisation of American States’ annual General Assembly, held this year in Antigua, Guatemala, at the beginning of June. The OAS Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza, presented a report entitled “The Drug Problem in the Americas,” which had been requested by the region’s heads of state when they met at last year’s Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia.
The report was drawn up by experts from almost all OAS member states, and was divided into two parts: an excellent analytical section and a brief and somewhat exasperating chapter devoted to future scenarios. The document itself represents a watershed, because it