Lawyer from EAFIT University. He has worked in strategic litigation in human rights and territorial autonomy. He is currently a researcher in the Drug Policy line at Dejusticia. Orcid: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-5733-6726 His last publication was "The Constitutional Obstacles to Drug Market Regulation in Colombia"

In Colombia and other countries, the political and legal battle over the decriminalisation of drug possession or use has shifted to the debate over use in public spaces. Colombia decriminalised these behaviours in 1994, but in 2016 Congress created a law that prohibits and punishes drug use in public spaces, allowing repression against people who use drugs. This norm has generated intense legal and political debate, as the Constitutional Court has twice declared it unconstitutional, but national and local political actors have insisted on maintaining this restriction.

In reality, restrictions on drug use in public spaces are tools for criminalising poverty. Police action focuses on impoverished people: the homeless and young people. Not only do the police impose fines on these people, they sometimes confiscate drug paraphernalia. This has a negative impact on the right to health and a decent standard of living of people who use drugs. In turn, this recycling of the punitive discourse against drug use in public spaces instrumentalises people who use drugs by legitimising the false belief that the common problems of societies are caused by them and their practices.

Drug use is an element that societies have to live with, including in the public space, because this is the space where citizenship is materialised. States must stop criminalising people who use drugs and provide them with decent living conditions. This includes the provision of basic services and goods, as well as support for low-risk consumption spaces.