COLOMBIA WEARIES OF WAR ON DRUGS

Top Presidential Candidate Leads Movement Toward Decriminalization

A growing number of prominent Colombians -- including a leading
presidential candidate -- are attacking the U.S. war on drugs and adding
momentum to a push for decriminalization of marijuana, heroin and even cocaine.

A recent flurry of pro-legalization pronouncements culminated this week in
a scathing attack by Horacio Serpa, front-runner in next May's presidential
elections, on the U.S.-backed policy of eradicating drug crops through
aerial spraying.

"Today there is more cocaine being produced, more trafficking, more
traffickers and larger areas under cultivation," said Mr. Serpa on the eve
of a visit by U.S. officials believed to be assessing the effectiveness of
Washington's anti-drug partnership with the Colombian government. "New and
alternative formulas are needed along with a recognition that the
(anti-drug) policies applied to date have been a failure."

Mr. Serpa's comments came only days after Colombian Senator Viviane Morales
introduced a bill to legalize the production and sale of heroin and cocaine.

And other politicians have introduced a series of bills in Colombia's
congress that would reduce or eliminate penalties for people in the drug trade.

"The problem is that the law of the marketplace is overtaking the law of
the state," former president Ernesto Samper said recently. "We cannot
continue to fight this war alone. If the consuming nations do nothing to
curb demand, to control money laundering, to halt the flow of chemicals
that supply the drug-production labs, then in a few short years, the world
is going to see legalization as the answer."

The publisher of Colombia's largest daily newspaper has also publicly
backed decriminalization.

In an essay published in the Los Angeles Times, Enrique Santos Calderon
said U.S.-backed strategies to fight drug cartels and eliminate cocaine
crops have failed. He said "legalization and decriminalization tactics
should be considered."

The debate on decriminalization is taking place just as the U.S.
delegation, including top State Department, White House and Pentagon
officials, meets with the administration of Colombian President Andres
Pastrana to discuss both the war on drugs and the battle against leftist
guerrillas who tax and protect cocaine producers.

Last year, the United States launched Plan Colombia, a $1.3-billion project
to reduce drug production through military operations, crop destruction and
social programs.

Critics say fumigating coca crops destroys the environment and simply
pushes peasant coca farmers deeper into the jungle, or into the arms of
leftist guerrillas.

Individuals in Colombia can now legally possess small amounts of cocaine,
hashish and marijuana.

Rafael Orduz, a Colombian senator, wants to expand the law to remove
criminal penalties for small landholders who grow less than seven acres of
coca or opium.

"We are now a full year into Plan Colombia and we can see the results:
Peasant farmers are wiped out economically, people are being displaced,
suffering is on the increase," Mr. Orduz said. "Just because we support
decriminalization does not mean we support guerrillas or drug traffickers.
We are tired of all of them. We want to get rid of them," he said.

But Mr. Orduz said attacking peasant coca farmers is an unethical way to
fight the drug trade.

"The idea should not be to treat them as criminals, because they are not.
All they are trying to do is survive."

When the American delegation arrived in Bogota Wednesday, about 60
demonstrators protested outside the U.S. Embassy and called for the United
States to end its military support of the Colombian government.

The exact purpose of the American delegation's visit, headed by Marc
Grossman, undersecretary of state for political affairs, is not clear.

U.S. officials have said they oppose any moves toward decriminalizing drug
production in Colombia, and a spokesman for the State Department said the
visit is to "underscore our continuing U.S. support for Colombia."

But the Bush administration has also said it will review its approach to
combatting drug use.

Last week, Peter W. Rodman, assistant secretary of defence for
international security affairs, said the administration is in the process
of making "some agonizing decisions" about how its drug policy in Colombia
serves American interests.