The president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, ordered the annulment of a table that sets the maximum amounts allowed for drug possession, which had been in effect since 2013 and was used to differentiate between consumers and traffickers.
Noboa, who took office on Thursday, ordered through a decree that the Ministry of the Interior repeal a resolution adopted by the Government of Rafael Correa (2007-2017) and its reforms.
“With this, the president fulfills his promise regarding the drug consumption table, which promoted micro-trafficking and was a harmful element for Ecuadorian society,” said the Ministry of Communication when announcing the measure late yesterday.
The table allowed possession without arrest of up to 10 grams of marijuana, 1 gram of cocaine and 0.10 of a gram of heroin and 0.02 of a gram of ecstasy.
The government did not elaborate on the practical and legal consequences of scrapping the scheme.
The president, a 35-year-old businessman who during the campaign proposed eliminating the table, considering that it is one of the “most toxic and harmful elements of Ecuadorian society,” also ordered that the Ministries of the Interior and Health develop information, prevention and control of drug consumption, as well as consumer rehabilitation, reported the AFP news agency.
The table “encourages microtrafficking in schools and creates an entire generation of addicted children,” said Noboa in the debate prior to the October 15 runoff, in which he obtained 52% of the votes to defeat the candidate promoted by Correa, Luisa. Gonzalez.
Ecuador has been facing a wave of violence linked to drug trafficking for years, which has led to homicides quadrupling between 2018 and 2022, climbing to a record of 26 per 100,000 inhabitants. For this year it is estimated that the rate will rise to 40.
Drug gangs, with links to Colombian and Mexican cartels, are waging a war for power even in prisons, where massacres have left more than 460 dead since 2021.
Ecuador, located between Colombia and Peru, the largest cocaine producers in the world, has seized more than 500 tons of drugs since 2021.
In addition to the drug consumption table, Noboa repealed the Executive Decrees signed by former right-wing president Guillermo Lasso (2021-2023) to delegate to the Municipality of Guayaquil the construction of the southern viaduct of that city, known as Quinto Puente, and the construction of the Buena Fé-Babahoyo road corridor, reported the Europa Press news agency.
Source: Ambito
