Latin America must make drugs legal to stop killings, says United Nations chief

By Brendan Cole

Countries in Latin America should consider legalizing drugs to ease the human cost linked to the deadly trade, a United Nations chief has said. Alicia Bárcena, who heads the Santiago, Chile-based Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, said that countries in the region needed to look at drastic measures to tackle the trade, which kills tens of thousands of people each year. “It’s time to seriously consider legalizing drugs,” she told a Latin America forum in Paris, Reuters reported on Tuesday. “I’m going to be very provocative. Who would drug legalization be good for? Latin America and the Caribbean, for God’s sake. Because the illegality is what’s killing people,” said Bárcena, who is from Mexico.