US waves white flag in disastrous 'war on drugs'

Hugh O'Shaughnessy from The Independent claims the United States is executing a slow retreat from the War on Drugs:

After 40 years of defeat and failure, America's "war on drugs" is being buried in the same fashion as it was born – amid bloodshed, confusion, corruption and scandal. US agents are being pulled from South America; Washington is putting its narcotics policy under review, and a newly confident region is no longer prepared to swallow its fatal Prohibition error.

Colombian President: "Yes, We Do Believe in" Legalization

Former Colombian president Cesar Garivia said he thinks the U.S. and other countries should stop arresting so many people for drugs in an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday.

At about six minutes into this embedded video, when Amanpour asks President Garivia about legalization and decriminalization, he says, "We do believe in that. You should not put people in jail because of the consumption of drugs...Just putting people in jail doesn't solve any problem; it only increases the problem. The U.S. has to look at its policy."



Also in the interview, President Garivia says he supports legal drug maintenance programs, like the ones operating in some European countries.