A question of Will

In 2008, Ecuador’s new and much-publicized Constitution, introduced by the Citizens’ Revolution, defined addiction as a public health problem. This governmental decision was believed to be an important step in countering the war on drugs, sponsored by the United States, according to which Ecuador was identified as a supplier of drugs. The discourse was introduced during Richard Nixon’s administration (1969-1974) and extended to Latin America in the form of an increasingly repressive wave of anti-drug policies leading to overcrowded prisons throughout the continent. Justification for the war on narcotics was the alleged danger posed by certain substances, depicted as capable of destroying a person’s life with such ease that a decisive, warlike response was not only reasonable but necessary.