Colombian attorney General Calls Legalization 'the Only Solution'.

For the first time in his political career, Colombian Attorney General Gustavo de Greiff Restreppo publicly supported drug legalization inhis speech during the panel on Latin American issue.

"The war on drugs is a lost battle,", Dr. de Greiff told conference delegates. "It has been fought on the interdiction level and it failed. The profits are so large that is a delusion to think that jailing or killing major traffickers will result in a smaller amount of drugs in the market." Meanwhile, Dr. de Grieff noted, the drug cartels become more powerful by the day, as they can count on a steady income from their illicit trade. As a result, the high levels of drug-related crime and violence in his country and others show no sign of abetting. "In the end, the only solution is legalization, with regulations to control the market, "Dr. de Grieff asserted near the end of his talk.

Despite this bold statement of his belief, Dr. de Grieff made it clear that for the interim he and his country will not back away from the drug war. "We should study the possibility of legalization, "the attorney general said, but in the meantime we should enforce the drug laws." Observers noted that Dr. de Grieff spoke somewhat tentatively, frequently approaching a pro-legalization position in his remarks but then stopping short. He had reason to be concerned about implications of his remarks. Not only do his statements have the potential for creating problems in relations with prohibitionist nations, his views could further rile the drug traffickers whom he is charged with arresting. The cartels, after all, have a lot to fear from having the power of the state turned against them, but they would have everything to lose under a new drug distribution regime of which they were no longer in charge.