Juan Manuel Santos was speaking at a special session of the United Nations General Assembly this week to discuss the world's drug problem, but divisions remain among the 193 member states over how to tackle the growing problem.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos says the aggressive war on drugs has failed.
He says it's now time to shift strategies and look for an alternative approach.
"Can we say that we have won the war? Or could we at least say that we are winning it? Unfortunately, the answer is no. We have not won the war and aren't winning it now.
He was speaking on the last day of a special session where, for the first time in two decades, world leaders gathered to rethink global strategy in the war on drugs.
President Santos says nations must work together to target mafias and cartels and not look to punish smaller players.
"We still have to realise that repression has affected the weakest links in the drug trafficking chain more than anyone else. Small farmers, so called mules, drug users, are filling prisons all over the world. How do you explain to a humble Colombian peasant that he is going to jail because he is growing marijuana when anybody in Colorado or Washington in the US - anybody at all - can grow marijuana, sell it and consume it freely?"
Bolivian President Evo Morales said drug use and the demand for drugs needs to be addressed as a root cause, instead of focusing strategy on supply.
"The rate of cocaine consumption in the United States is 1.6 per cent whereas the world average is 0.4 per cent. With what basis does the UN certify or decertify countries if we know that nothing is being done to reduce the demand?"
Despite broad agreement on the need to deal with the global drug problem, there are divisions among the 193 UN member states.
Others favour decriminalisation of certain drugs, and a greater focus on reducing the harm caused by narcotics abuse.
In 2012 the US states of Colorado and Washington became the first two states - and the first two jurisdictions anywhere in the world - to approve ending a ban on marijuana and legally regulate its production, distribution and sales.
Other states and countries around the world have followed, to varying degrees.
And Australia is planning a licensing scheme to allow cultivation and distribution of medicinal cannabis.
Canada used the UN session to announce its plan to legalise recreational marijuana in 2017.
Mexico's president said he is also open to legalising medical marijuana.
But Singapore's Minister for Home Affairs and Law, K Shanmugam, has criticised the calls for more liberal policies.
"We believe that drugs will destroy our society. With 200 million people traveling through our borders every year, and given Singaporeans' purchasing power, a soft approach will mean our country will be washed over with drugs."
The island nation has harsh penalities for drug-related offences, including the death penalty.
"Show me a model that works better, delivers a better outcome for citizens and we will consider changing. If that cannot be done don't ask me to change".
Activists were hoping for a more liberal drug strategy that puts human rights and public health at the centre.
Denmark's Minister of Health, Sophie Lohde, expressed her disappointment at a UN declaration adopted earlier in the week which did not explicitly call for an end to capital punishment in drug-related offences.
"Everybody including people who use drugs, has the right to be treated with dignity. Consequently, the government of Denmark deeply regrets that the outcome document does not address the abolition of the death penalty for drug-related crimes."
Colombia remains a major hub for narcotics production and trafficking.
President Santos says achieving peace deals with the country's two largest guerilla groups would make a big dent in the drug trade.
"Today we are working to sign a peace agreement with guerilla groups that have been involved in drug trafficking so that they will become our allies in eliminating illegal crops and promoting alternative crops. If we are able to do this this will be a historic turnaround."
Share
