COLOMBIA'S HIGH COURT SAYS DRUG CONSUMPTION NOT A CRIME

BOGOTA - Colombia's Supreme Court ruled that possession of illegal
drugs for personal use is not a criminal offense, citing a 1994
decision by the country's Constitutional Court, Caracol Radio said Wednesday.

Drug consumption "generates in a person problems of addiction and
slavery that turn one into a sick, compulsive individual deserving of
therapeutic medical treatment instead of a punishment," the judges said.

Their ruling came in a case involving a man prosecuted for possession
of 1.3 grams (.04 ounces) of cocaine. The court overturned his
conviction and ordered him immediately released.

"In the exercise of his personal and private rights, the accused did
not harm others," so his conduct "cannot be the object of any
punishment," the Supreme Court found.

Colombia's Constitutional Court said in 1994 that possession of
illegal drugs within fixed limits was not subject to prosecution, but
the hard-line government of President Alvaro Uribe is currently
trying to undue that decision with a constitutional amendment.

The administration's proposal was approved in June by the lower house
of Congress and is now under review by a Senate committee.

Bogota receives around $500 million a year in mainly military aid
from the United States as part of Plan Colombia, an initiative
targeting the drug trade and armed irregulars.

The Argentine Supreme Court moved toward decriminalizing drug
possession in a ruling last month that was hailed by President
Cristina Fernandez's government, which says the battle against the
illegal drug trade should focus on high-level traffickers, not users.

In the Argentine case, the judges quashed a conviction for marijuana
possession, though they did not proclaim the legalization of pot or
any other drug.