Smart Law Enforcement Responses
The prohibition of drugs, as a public policy, is a wrongheaded answer that does not resolve the structural problems that give rise to drug trafficking, and it exacerbates the vulnerabilities of numerous groups. We work to progressively substitute the State’s criminal justice response to the problem of drugs and, instead, propose an answer based on public health, human development, and attention to vulnerable populations.
Public Health & Human Rights
Public policies to attend to problems that arise from the consumption of psychoactive substances, as well as mechanisms for the eradication of illegal crops, must have a perspective of respect for the public health and human rights of the people who consume and produce these substances.
Peace Agreement & Drug Policy
In the context of the implementation of the Peace Agreement between the Colombian Government and the FARC-EP, we work to ensure an adequate implementation of the policies agreed to in that document, respecting the human rights of producers, and favoring the construction of a stable and lasting peace.
Collaborating Transnationally: Dejusticia is part of the Research Consortium on Drugs and the Law (Colectivo de Estudios Drogas y Derecho, CEDD) brings together researchers from nine Latin American countries with the goal of analyzing the impact of criminal law and legal practice surrounding illicit drugs
The Colectivo de Estudios Drogas y Derecho (CEDD) was created amid growing evidence that international drug control policies have not decreased drug use, stopped the cultivation of plants for illegal markets or reduced drug trafficking. Rather, the evidence shows that the weight of drug laws fall disproportionately on the most vulnerable and disadvantaged population groups and has the undesired consequence of overwhelming criminal justice systems. The group’s main objective is to generate information about the characteristics and costs of drug policy in Latin America, whether they be social or economic, and to encourage an informed debate on the effectiveness of current policies.
CEDD includes researchers from various countries including Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, the Netherlands, the United States, Peru and Uruguay.
