Experts weigh in on drug war

A number of experts on U.S.-Colombia relations including a former Colombian president voiced their opinions Friday about the ongoing war on drugs being fought in both countries.

The panel included former Colombian President Cesar Gaviria, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics Rand Beers, Colombian Ambassador to the U.S. Luis Moreno and Washington Office of Latin America adviser Jason Hagen.

More than 100 people, mostly students, gathered in Houston Hall's Bodek Lounge to listen to the debate on the current drug problem and hear panel members' recommendations as to how to help solve it. The forum was moderated by Legal Studies lecturer Edward Bergman, an expert on drug and foreign policy.

Colombia's drug situation was the focus of much of the debate, with all other issues stemming from this central problem. As President Gaviria said, "There are not simple solutions to complex problems."

Hagen referred to the drug situation as a "balloon effect," saying, "if you step on it in one place it will only pop up somewhere else."

Guerrilla warfare was also addressed at Friday's discussion. Stemming from an East-West conflict within the South American nation, it has recently become more and more tied to drug trafficking.

Hagen said that the line between drug traffickers and guerrillas is becoming blurred. "Now what we have is a narcoguerrillaterrorist, a kind of amorphous blob," he said.

After each panelist was given an opportunity to address the audience, Bergman peppered them with questions on issues ranging from environmental damage to the legalization of cocaine and the U.S. attitude toward Colombia post-Sept. 11th.

The panelists were eloquent in their explanations and responses, at times tending to disagree with each other but without animosity. The breakup of two panelists presenting the U.S. position and two representing the Colombian perspective made for animated but intellectual dialogue.

At the end, Bergman opened up the floor to questions from the audience. Penn students challenged the panelists, with one student asking what gave the government the right to tell people they cannot do drugs. Beers countered by saying, "Safety to society is more important than the right of the individual to choose."

Student response to the event was positive.

"I was just curious because I know very little -- I see it all in movie stereotypes, like Traffic," College freshman Jonathan Mervis said. "I wanted to see the truth behind it."

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