2024-01-18 16:52:30
On this Thursday morning, the mayor of Medellín, Federico Gutiérrez, signed the decree that restricts the consumption of narcotics in public spaces.
The administration’s main argument for taking the controversial measure is to keep minors away from spaces where drugs are consumed.
Read also: “If people want to consume, let them go home”: Mayor Federico Gutiérrez on drug consumption in public spaces
The decree establishes that the consumption of psychoactive substances, including the minimum dose, is prohibited in both public and private educational establishments, public parks and squares, sports and recreational centers and any place in the public space where events are held attended by boys, girls and teenagers while the event lasts. The measure also establishes a perimeter of 100 meters around, where the restriction also applies.
If you do not comply with the rule, the Police may impose fines ranging from 8 to 32 minimum daily wages, which would exceed the sum of $1,300,000. In addition, the authorities may destroy the substance.
“A person who consumes is not being prohibited from using, but is not being prohibited from doing so in front of children,” said the president at the press conference he summoned to present the decree signed by the secretaries of Education, Health and Security and coexistence.
Regarding the criticism of those who consider that the decree promotes the criminalization and stigmatization of consumers, Gutiérrez assures that the approach with them will be “attention to a public health problem.” He added that the treatment will be different and aggressive with “those who traffic drugs and poison our children and our young people.”
Gutiérrez’s decision, which is transversally opposed to the national government’s treatment and vision on the issue, has generated good reactions in the most conservative sectors.
However, in progressive sectors, even in some close to Gutiérrez’s political movement, it has generated criticism and concerns.
This is the case, for example, of the Antioquian Chamber representative Daniel Carvalho, who has been one of the main promoters of the regulation of recreational cannabis consumption throughout the country.
“I think the mayor is wrong in his purpose, in the means and in the light way of mixing different topics (he brings together consumers, addicts, jíbaros and street dwellers in the same idea). Furthermore, his provisions go once morest what was established by the Constitutional Court,” Carvalho wrote in his X account.
The congressman points out that in Colombia the consumption of psychoactive substances is not penalized and that carrying the minimum dose is protected by law. In his opinion, this measure would be unprotecting the rights of consumers, which must be assured, as well as those of children, young people and people who do not consume these substances. “General prohibitions are not constitutional,” said Carvalho.
Therefore, in his opinion, the alternative, if we want to keep minors away from drug users without violating their rights, might be to delimit times and areas where consumption is restricted. “The dynamics of a park are not the same in the morning, followingnoon and evening,” she concluded.
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