BOGOTA: Cocaine “is no worse than whisky” and is only illegal because it comes from Latin America, said Colombian President Gustavo Petro during a live broadcast of a government meeting.

Colombia is the world´s biggest cocaine producer and exporter, mainly to the United States and Europe, and has spent decades fighting against drug trafficking. During a six-hour ministerial meeting — broadcast live for the first time ever — the leftist president said “cocaine is illegal because it is made in Latin America, not because it is worse than whisky.”

“Scientists have analysed this. Cocaine is no worse than whisky,” he added, suggesting that the global cocaine industry could be “easily dismantled” if the drug were legalised worldwide.

“If you want peace, you have to dismantle the business (of drug trafficking),” he said. “It could easily be dismantled if they legalise cocaine in the world. It would be sold like wine.”

Petro also pointed out that fentanyl “is killing Americans and it is not made in Colombia”, referring to the opioid responsible for around 75,000 deaths in the United States a year, according to official data.