It is five in the afternoon on a Monday in the well-known Parque del Periodista in downtown Medellín, a corner with some trees designated years ago by the community as a space to talk, drink beer and snort some marijuana. It is so normal to see people consuming the latter in the journalist, that the passers-by who frequent the area have become accustomed to the dense cloud that seems to envelop the place at any time of the day.
However, no one is smoking today, there are no beers or bottles of other liquor in sight. A police motorcycle and its two officers are the center of attention, the majority seem to be looking at them and them back, in a dance of glances that goes from one side to the other and is repeated every time a new citizen arrives to occupy a space. To sit down.
This unusual dynamic is due to the new decree signed by Mayor Federico Gutiérrez to eliminate the consumption of psychoactive substances in parks and public spaces. According to the local leader, the main objective behind this is to keep children and adolescents away from practices to which, due to their age, they should not be exposed.
Although the measure has been well received by citizens, it also has its detractors, that is, those who think that these types of strategies only encourage persecution against the consumer and do not focus on the real problem, the drug trafficking.
Why a new decree?
The National Government recently restricted the ability of the National Police to seize drugs that do not exceed the minimum dose. This after signing Decree 2114 on December 7, 2023, which repealed Decree 1844 of 2018, which gave the authorities the power to intervene in micro-trafficking in public spaces. This situation generated a series of responses from local leaders in Colombia.
Thus, in the case of Medellín, Decree 0044 of January 17, 2024 was issued, through which the Mayor’s Office of Medellín restricts the consumption of psychoactive substances in public and private educational institutions, parks and public squares, sports and recreational centers, as well as at public or private events with the presence of minors. The measure also applies 100 meters around any of these points.
“A citizen who is violating these regulations will be fined $693,000. It is important to mention that if a situation arises that endangers a third party within the framework of the procedure, the uniformed officers are authorized to carry out a transfer to a detention center for protection reasons,” explained Brigadier General Óscar Lamprea.
Although the decree generated controversy among different sectors of public opinion, many consumers express a common position:
“Consumption in public spaces was already prohibited. Maybe they send the police to issue more summonses or be stricter, but the prohibitionist rules have always been there. The last week they have made them (the police) stop here at El Periodista day and night and restrict consumption, but who knows how long it will last. If it is true that we do not want to persecute the consumer, I think it would be easier to provide spaces for them and leave others that are only family spaces where smoking is prohibited,” says Estefanía Zapata, a frequent visitor to Parque del Periodista.
Like her, more consumers express that they already felt that they could be prosecuted for smoking or carrying marijuana or another type of substance, so they do not notice major changes after the decree.
However, something that stands out from his testimony is the noticeable difference that an effective police presence in public spaces generates. There is less consumption, also less common crime and more pedestrians walking with their belongings in their hands. This change is also perceived these days in Plaza Botero, where tourists and locals flood the spaces while taking photos with cameras and cell phones.
Still missing
Although the increase in police presence in Commune 10 is beginning to be noticed and bring improvements in terms of the perception of security in the territory, its problems are great and do not disappear.
Emblematic places such as Parque Bolívar are still immersed in a social crisis that ranges from insecurity to living on the streets. This is what Juan Camilo tells it, who is one of the security guards paid by EPM to ensure that no one enters the fountain that is located in front of the imposing Metropolitan Cathedral.
“Robberies and fights are daily occurrences. We guards can only ensure that no one goes into the fountain to bathe, and we call the Police when we see something happening, but the response takes a while. Even with the CAI inside the park, there are very few police officers and they must, in addition to the park, take care of other spaces. Consumption is one thing, everyone has free will, but theft seems even more serious to me. Just like the surveillance of the church, if you see all the bricks in the first lines, they are damaged because they are scratched and there is no one who can do anything,” he says from his surveillance position located in a tent right in front of the Cathedral.
And, although the constant exposure of minors in Commune 10 to drug consumption is a situation that must be addressed urgently, it is not the only problem that the parks and public spaces of the territory have been facing for quite some time. . Citizens hope that the effective presence of the authorities continues and continues to bring positive results for coexistence.
By: Valentina Castaño
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