President Barack Obama further muddled his position on drug
policy reform
in an interview with Univision’s Enrique Acevedo, saying, in
the course of one response, both “I don’t mind a debate around
issues like decriminalization,” and “I don’t think that
legalization of drugs is going to be the answer.”

EA:  Mr. President, this lively
discussion on the issue of drug consumption, drug trafficking among
the regional leadership seems to have caught American diplomacy a
little off-guard. Many Latin American governments complain that the
U.S. continues to filter drug trafficking by being the principle
importer of these drugs. The Justice Department says there are over
20 million Americans using drugs. Do you think it’s time to change
this strategy in the war against drugs?

PBO:  I actually don’t think it’s
taken us off guard. My first meeting with President Calderon, who
obviously is engaged in a very courageous battle with
narco-traffickers inside his own country, we had this discussion
and I said that the United States has to be a partner in this
process because it is true that we are a primary market for the
drug trafficking that’s taking place in Latin America, Central
America and the Caribbean, and that’s why we’ve put billions of
dollars since I’ve come into office into drug treatment programs,
prevention programs, treating it as a public health issue so that
we can lower demand. At that same time we’ve initiated
unprecedented cooperation on the law enforcement side and obviously
our efforts here in Colombia are an example of the progress that’s
been made when it comes to issues of citizen security — and the
last part of this is what we’ve tried to do is make sure that
security at our borders is not just a one-way street, that we are
paying a lot of attention to arms that are flowing south, cash
that’s flowing south, because it’s important that we take our
responsibilities seriously and not just ask other countries to do
their part. This is an enormous challenge and I don’t mind a debate
around issues like decriminalization. I personally don’t agree that
that’s a solution to the problem, but I think that given the
pressures that a lot of governments are under here,
under-resourced, overwhelmed by violence, it’s completely
understandable that they would look for new approaches, and we want
to cooperate with them. I don’t think that legalization of drugs is
going to be the answer.

Is the semantic distinction between Obama saying he doesn’t
think legalization is “going” to be the answer, as opposed to just
saying “it’s not the answer,” a meaningful one? My guess is the
president’s remarks aren’t a reflection of his own beliefs, or an
impending policy change, but a public admission (hot on the tails
of Vice President Joe Biden’s) that Central American leaders are
weighing the benefits of decriminalization.