U.S. Facing Bold New Calls for “Drug War” Alternatives

Ekow Bartels-Kodwo
Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA)
Monday, April 2, 2012

At a poorly attended summit of Central American leaders, President Otto Perez Molina of Guatemala reiterated calls for the decriminalization of recreational drug use. Although some former heads of state have called for such a solution, Molina became the first sitting head of state to openly advocate for such a controversial stance when speaking at the Central American Security Summit in Antigua, Guatemala. Billed initially as a groundbreaking summit during which “alternative solutions” to the War on Drugs were to be discussed, the conference’s emphasis on how to manage the War on Drugs, as well as talk of decriminalization, were sidelined before the conference even began.