How Would Drug Legalization in the United States Affect Colombia?
The drug war, or drug prohibition, in the United States is a socially devastating program. The U.S. government’s drug control budget for 2005 was $18.8 billion. The drug war strengthens police, military, prisons, and organized crime, while forcing addicts to support their habits through crime. Furthermore, it demonizes poor comunities and condemns hundreds of thousands to jail who pose no real threat to society. The problems generated by drug prohibition in the United States extend far beyond its borders, however.

The drug war is davastating colombia / Situation in Colombia :
In Colombia, two of the most devastating aspects of the drug war are the aerial fumigation program and the funding of terrorist armies. According to some official studies, 550,000 acres of agricultural lands in Colombia have been sprayed with 2.5 million liters of glyphosate, with untold health and environmental effects. The drug war also contributes to the financing of illegal paramilitary groups. These armies are responsible for terrible human rights violations, including assassinations and massacres. The presence of these well-financed paramilitary forces, along with the systematic corruption of the police and judicial system by drug traffickers, has eroded the legitimacy of the Colombian state.
The drug industry provides an income of several billion dollars annually to narcotraficants that use the money to fund a private army and influence government to protect its own interests. It is estimated that Colombia’s largest guerrilla group, the FARCs, has an annual income of $180 million from taxing the drug trade.
In a country that has never had a significant land reform, the concentration of 11 million acres in the hands of drug mafias is a significant bad point on agricultural progress. An industry that is prohibited cannot be taxed, and drug activity constitutes 3 or 4 percent of Colombia’s GDP (PIB). This is a