An anti-narcotic police officer guards packages of cocaine in San Jose del Guaviare, Colombia. AP Photo/Fernando Vergara
The illegal drug problem can be understood as a kaleidoscope whose reflections represent its multiple dimensions, though these reflections are not necessarily symmetrical nor equal. Any approach that fails to appreciate its complexity will surely result in critical inaccuracies which will have serious consequences. On the eve of the Special Session of the General Assembly UNGASS 2016, Latin American countries should decide upon their priority dimensions and how to address them. There are currently noticeable disparities in this sphere.
It is necessary to identify the main dimensions of this complex problem in order to contribute to a debate characterized by prejudices, preconceptions and reductionist arguments. We will therefore concentrate on the security, inequality, institutional, and cultural dimensions, which will be seen to be interconnected and liable to generate spillover into each other.
