The OIJ is opposed to a bill that intends to use cannabis for recreational purposes, Zúñiga pointed out to MPs on the Legislative Assembly’s Environment Commission, who, along with other directors of the Judiciary Police, asked him to learn his criteria for the proposed law on control and regulation of recreational cannabis.
After pointing out that there is more harm than good, not just from a police perspective but from other areas, the interim director of the OIJ argued that this normalization was not good for the country.
While acknowledging that his body has deficiencies and needs, he emphasized that he refuses to receive money from drugs to combat it. “We cannot accept money for its legalization,” Zúñiga said.
In addition to Zúñiga, the acting deputy director of the OIJ, Michael Soto, and the head of the forensic laboratory of the Judicial Police, Mauricio Chacón, attended the appearance in this legislative commission.
The three agreed that passage of the aforementioned bill, sponsored by the executive branch, would not reduce crime or violence in the country.
In this regard, Soto pointed out that they are not against hemp or the medical use of CBD, but against marijuana and THC because, he said, organized crime will always seek a differentiated strategy to allow plants to be modified.
He stressed that “it is not entirely correct to say that legalizing organized crime will take the market away. Many Costa Ricans die as a result of homicides, drug settlements, or fighting for sales outlets. 70 percent of homicides are related to consumption, the rest to territorial bidding.
Police directors warned against comparing Costa Rica to Uruguay or Canada because those countries are not on the drug-producing path like this Central American country.
Zúñiga and Soto urged lawmakers to carefully analyze the legalization of recreational marijuana, since the main victims would be college students, as they are highly vulnerable and attractive to drug dealers in terms of use and addiction to this drug.
Likewise, Zúñiga urged MPs to change the title of the bill and not use the word recreation, as it gives a connotation to the populace that using the drug is good.
When this message is sent to young people, it sends a signal that is not correct, it is interpreted that the use of the drug is good and has no consequences, he pointed out, believing that “cannabis for not – medicinal use”.
red/ale