Mauricio Rodríguez Múnera: Co-operation and education are key in battle against drugs

COLOMBIA has suffered the most in the world as a result of the consumption of narcotics in other nations, particularly in the West.

To satisfy this demand, those who produce and traffic cocaine in Colombia have, in the past, caused the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians, courageous policemen and soldiers, as well as brave judges and political leaders, who confronted the drug mafias and the illegal armed groups.

This illegal trade also caused the destruction of the environment (with rainforest cleared to cultivate coca); strengthened the terrorist guerrilla group Farc (that finances itself through this trade) and resulted in corruption.

For three decades, Colombia has fought an extremely difficult war against drugs, which is yielding results every day, thanks to our persistence and international cooperation.

Over the past decade, according to the 2009 World Drug Report of the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC), Colombia has been able to reduce cocaine crops by 50 per cent. And we are committed to continue working very hard, with international support, until we reach the goal of 100 per cent.

However, this immense effort has diverted the state's attention and resources away from the important goals of any developing nation: eliminating poverty, building infrastructure to enhance competitiveness, achieving full education and health-care coverage and improving quality.

Instead of concentrating on these priorities, since the early Eighties successive governments have had to devote billions of dollars to fighting powerful and extremely brutal drug barons who have created fortunes because millions of people in many countries – particularly the richest ones – regularly buy cocaine, and at high prices.

Every time somebody sniffs cocaine, they are not only causing serious harm to themselves, but they are also devastating lives in the countries where it is grown – as well as irrevocably affecting the flora and fauna of the Amazon rainforest. For each gram of cocaine, four square metres of the rainforest are destroyed.

It is essential that all nations work together on several fronts: preventive education, penalties and/or treatment for addicts, effective police actions to combat cultivation and traffic, severe legal action against money-laundering and stricter controls in the sale of the chemicals needed to manufacture cocaine.

To be able to win the very tough war against drugs, the responsibility must be a shared one of all countries involved in the entire chain – production of cocaine and chemical precursors, transit and consumption. It makes no sense to try to place the blame on others – with consumer nations pointing the finger at producer nations, and vice versa – when we all know that this terrible problem exists because there is both supply and demand for drugs.

A good example of the positive results of shared responsibility is the work Colombia is doing with the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) through the educational programmes that have been developed to engage young people and highlight the disastrous effects of illegal drugs.

The main objective of my visit to Scotland, which begins today and includes visits to schools, is to strengthen these efforts to combat drug consumption in this wonderful country.

I am convinced of the amazing power of education. I strongly believe that parents and teachers can prevent drug consumption by providing appropriate and timely information, but most of all by instilling in young hearts and minds the values, principles and habits that will deter them from drugs.

• Mauricio Rodrguez Munera is Colombia's ambassador to the UK