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I don't know about cocaine, but I know a little about Colombia. This is a bold move that could single-handedly project the Country to a first world player posit

I don't know about cocaine, but I know a little about Colombia. This is a bold move that could single-handedly project the Country to a first world player position.

Donald 6y ago
Can you describe a little more?
- mahesh_rm 6y ago
  Illegal Groups handling cocaine production and smuggling ("Narco-Guerrilla" and "Narco-Paramilitares") are de-facto creating a network of corruption and outright soldier recruitment, which has been the main factor of destabilization for Colombia in the last 20 years. This is especially true for rural areas. A Government sponsored Cooperative that handles cultivation of Coca would make earnings of Coca farmers legitimate, de facto improving their life conditions and the ones of their families. These resources would help bringing basic education to rural areas, while reducing the amount of conflict sponsored by armed illegals.
  - boterock 6y ago
    I would like to deepen a bit on "guerilla" and "paramilitaries": * Guerilla is a movement born and driven by farmers, where they weren't receiving aids from the central government, so they got into this business so they could afford themselves some security and sovereignty over the government that wouldn't care less about these country people. * Paramilitaries are more like mercenaries. They would basically be the guys that would do the dirty work of killing people that there is no reason to kill legally (i.e. enemies that the army should fight). These paramilitary groups have been hired (or created) by corrupt politicians and big companies to seize lands rich in gold or oil from their rightful owners. These groups would also end up being part of the trafficking networks. The current president has been demonstrated to have relationship with these paramilitary trafficking groups. That is why the president isn't pushing any effort that would affect the way the cartels work. Congress is pushing in this direction, but the government party is still majority in the congress, so it has been a challenge. A government entity that manages Cocaine networks would be a big opportunity for growing businesses, as it happens with some of the liquor brewers in the country. But that is directly against the interests of the current president. We all hope to change this in the next elections, as the current cartels are so powerful that they buy out, blackmail and kill almost any judge, senator, entity or individual that tries to fight back.
  - Chris2048 6y ago
    But legitimising the work internally wouldn't mean they could legally export it. Criminals would still need to smuggle it to where it is illegal, which is where I'd expect most of the market is.
waynecochran 6y ago
Do you think the legalization of cocaine would, if successful, have the positive effect of reducing corruption? I was surprised to learn from wikipedia that Columbia has separate executive, legislative, and judicial branches which is usually designed to create checks and balances that undermine corruption. With that said there is still an inordinate amount of corruption (evidently). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Colombia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Colombia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_Colombia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_Colombia P.S. It feels a little lame to be citing wikipedia, but I don't know much about Columbia other than what I know from their drug lore.
detritus 6y ago
The problem with plants is that other people can grow them. If Colombia makes this work, other countries will be looking on with interest. What actual advantage would an incumbent such as Colombia have over upstart competitors? Seems like a short-term and inflammatory gain at best.
- TremendousJudge 6y ago
  I'm not sure how easy it is to grow in other parts of the world, especially non-equatorial climates
  - detritus 6y ago
    For some reason I have it in mind as growing in much the same conditions as tea does. If so, lots of Africa and Asia could get in on the act too.
    - TremendousJudge 6y ago
      So, out of curiosity (this is now completely off topic to the original thread) I searched for a bit and found that it needs to be at high elevation in order to thrive, something between 500 and 2000 meters is optimal. This, combined with a very humid one season equatorial climate makes it very hard to achieve in other parts of the world. I guess this is why cocaine production hasn't moved to other parts of the world despite the huge demand.
      - jeromenerf 6y ago
        Well, selection and GMO are well mastered. Marijuana was optimized a lot where the laws where loose enough for the market to allow, the mob competitors were far enough and ecosystem conditions were not originally optimal.
      - samatman 6y ago
        Depends what other parts of the world we're talking about. I bet you the highlands of Southeast Asia, the foothills of the Himalayas, and the Kenyan highlands could grow some superb coca. Oh, and Ethiopia. And Java. Hawaii, probably. Basically if you can grow top-notch coffee, you can grow coca.
mabbo 6y ago
We're not sure why, but suddenly everyone is Colombia is very productive!
Findeton 6y ago
I also know a little about Colombia, being married to a Colombian woman. This just won't happen. Also, market dictates that even if it happened, nothing good would come out of it, and that's nothing to do with Colombia, just pure market behaviour: druglords will still be buying the product, it's just there would be a drive to produce more to cope with this higher demand. Also Colombia won't become a first world country any time soon, the infrastructure is lacking and the country has three different mountain ranges. Furthermore, and I say it as a Spanish national, their culture comes from the latin/Spanish culture and that has a lot of anti-capitalist cultural implications that will nevertheless drag any possible economic growth.

I don't know about cocaine, but I know a little about Colombia. This is a bold move that could single-handedly project the Country to a first world player position.

Donald 6y ago

Can you describe a little more?

mahesh_rm 6y ago
Illegal Groups handling cocaine production and smuggling ("Narco-Guerrilla" and "Narco-Paramilitares") are de-facto creating a network of corruption and outright soldier recruitment, which has been the main factor of destabilization for Colombia in the last 20 years. This is especially true for rural areas. A Government sponsored Cooperative that handles cultivation of Coca would make earnings of Coca farmers legitimate, de facto improving their life conditions and the ones of their families. These resources would help bringing basic education to rural areas, while reducing the amount of conflict sponsored by armed illegals.
- boterock 6y ago
  I would like to deepen a bit on "guerilla" and "paramilitaries": * Guerilla is a movement born and driven by farmers, where they weren't receiving aids from the central government, so they got into this business so they could afford themselves some security and sovereignty over the government that wouldn't care less about these country people. * Paramilitaries are more like mercenaries. They would basically be the guys that would do the dirty work of killing people that there is no reason to kill legally (i.e. enemies that the army should fight). These paramilitary groups have been hired (or created) by corrupt politicians and big companies to seize lands rich in gold or oil from their rightful owners. These groups would also end up being part of the trafficking networks. The current president has been demonstrated to have relationship with these paramilitary trafficking groups. That is why the president isn't pushing any effort that would affect the way the cartels work. Congress is pushing in this direction, but the government party is still majority in the congress, so it has been a challenge. A government entity that manages Cocaine networks would be a big opportunity for growing businesses, as it happens with some of the liquor brewers in the country. But that is directly against the interests of the current president. We all hope to change this in the next elections, as the current cartels are so powerful that they buy out, blackmail and kill almost any judge, senator, entity or individual that tries to fight back.
- Chris2048 6y ago
  But legitimising the work internally wouldn't mean they could legally export it. Criminals would still need to smuggle it to where it is illegal, which is where I'd expect most of the market is.

waynecochran 6y ago

Do you think the legalization of cocaine would, if successful, have the positive effect of reducing corruption? I was surprised to learn from wikipedia that Columbia has separate executive, legislative, and judicial branches which is usually designed to create checks and balances that undermine corruption. With that said there is still an inordinate amount of corruption (evidently). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Colombia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Colombia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_Colombia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_Colombia P.S. It feels a little lame to be citing wikipedia, but I don't know much about Columbia other than what I know from their drug lore.

detritus 6y ago

The problem with plants is that other people can grow them. If Colombia makes this work, other countries will be looking on with interest. What actual advantage would an incumbent such as Colombia have over upstart competitors? Seems like a short-term and inflammatory gain at best.

TremendousJudge 6y ago
I'm not sure how easy it is to grow in other parts of the world, especially non-equatorial climates
- detritus 6y ago
  For some reason I have it in mind as growing in much the same conditions as tea does. If so, lots of Africa and Asia could get in on the act too.
  - TremendousJudge 6y ago
    So, out of curiosity (this is now completely off topic to the original thread) I searched for a bit and found that it needs to be at high elevation in order to thrive, something between 500 and 2000 meters is optimal. This, combined with a very humid one season equatorial climate makes it very hard to achieve in other parts of the world. I guess this is why cocaine production hasn't moved to other parts of the world despite the huge demand.
    - jeromenerf 6y ago
      Well, selection and GMO are well mastered. Marijuana was optimized a lot where the laws where loose enough for the market to allow, the mob competitors were far enough and ecosystem conditions were not originally optimal.
    - samatman 6y ago
      Depends what other parts of the world we're talking about. I bet you the highlands of Southeast Asia, the foothills of the Himalayas, and the Kenyan highlands could grow some superb coca. Oh, and Ethiopia. And Java. Hawaii, probably. Basically if you can grow top-notch coffee, you can grow coca.

mabbo 6y ago

We're not sure why, but suddenly everyone is Colombia is very productive!

Findeton 6y ago

I also know a little about Colombia, being married to a Colombian woman. This just won't happen. Also, market dictates that even if it happened, nothing good would come out of it, and that's nothing to do with Colombia, just pure market behaviour: druglords will still be buying the product, it's just there would be a drive to produce more to cope with this higher demand. Also Colombia won't become a first world country any time soon, the infrastructure is lacking and the country has three different mountain ranges. Furthermore, and I say it as a Spanish national, their culture comes from the latin/Spanish culture and that has a lot of anti-capitalist cultural implications that will nevertheless drag any possible economic growth.