From: [c--i--s] at [clarinet.com] (Reuter/Gilles Castonguay)
Newsgroups: clari.world.americas.south,clari.news.drugs
Subject: Colombia May Hold Plebiscite to Make Drugs Illegal
Copyright: 1994 by Reuters, R
Date: Sat, 7 May 94 14:30:02 PDT
Slugword: DRUGS-COLOMBIA

	 BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuter) - Colombian President Cesar
Gaviria said Saturday his government was considering holding a
plebiscite to gain the authority to overturn a recent
constitutional court ruling that decriminalized the possession
of small quantities of drugs.
	 But Gaviria said they would first review the text of the
ruling before making a final decision.
	 ``We won't be able to make any (decision) until we know the
ruling,'' he told reporters before leaving the country for an
official visit to Costa Rica.
	 Gaviria said a plebiscite could be held after the
presidential elections at the end of May.
	 In a controversial ruling that has drawn broad criticism,
the court struck down last Thursday two articles of a law that
penalized the possession of small quantities of drugs.
	 The ruling, which does not legalize the production or
trafficking of drugs, said the articles contravened
constitutional rights to personal freedom and free development
of character.
	 The text of the ruling is expected to be released in the
next few weeks.
	 Gaviria said he was confident his government would win
public support in a plebiscite to reject the ruling, given the
national indignation it had evoked in recent days.
	 Government officials, newspaper columnists and presidential
candidates have criticized the ruling, saying it would encourage
drug use among teen-agers, increase health problems and increase
common crime.
	 Gaviria said he did not think the ruling would aggravate
Colombia's tense relations with the United States over drug
trafficking.
	 ``I believe that the (way) in which it has been (discussed)
to keep drug trafficking illegal is enough for international
interests,'' he said. ``It is a minor issue.''
	 A presidential statement released earlier quoted Gaviria as
saying that the ruling would not affect the country's fight
against drug traffickers, namely the Cali cartel, which controls
more than 70 percent of the cocaine smuggled to the United
States.
	 ``Nothing can weaken what constitutes the fight against the
drug cartels,'' the statement quoted him as saying during
bilateral talks with his Venezuelan counterpart in Caracas.
	 Washington has accused Bogota of being too lenient with
convicted drug traffickers in giving them light prison
sentences.
	 It has also criticized the prosecutor-general for supporting
the legalization of drugs -- a strategy aimed at eliminating the
huge profits earned by drug traffickers.