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Secretariat of Comprehensive Policies on Drugs

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Secretariat of Comprehensive Policies on Drugs
Secretaría de Políticas
Integrales sobre Drogas

A Sedronar building in 2020
Secretariat overview
Formed1989; 35 years ago (1989)
JurisdictionArgentina
HeadquartersSarmiento 546, Buenos Aires[1]
Annual budget$ 3,155,134,395 (2021)[2]
Secretariat executive
  • Roberto Moro[3], Secretary
Parent departmentMinistry of Health
Websiteargentina.gob.ar/sedronar

The Secretariat of Comprehensive Policies on Drugs (Spanish: Secretaría de Políticas Integrales sobre Drogas, mostly known for its acronym SEDRONAR) is an Argentine government agency reporting to the Ministry of Health, tasked with assisting the population on drug use prevention and the treatment of drug addiction.[4]

It was originally established in 1989 during the presidency of Carlos Menem as the "Secretariat of Programming for the Prevention of Drug Addiction and the Fight against Drug Trafficking", an agency reporting directly to the Office of the President.[5] It was reformed to its current status in 2017, during the presidency of Mauricio Macri.[4]

Since 13 January 2020, the Secretary of Comprehensive Policies on Drugs has been Gabriela Torres.[6]

History

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The SEDRONAR was established in 1989 by president Carlos Menem through a modification of the Law on Ministries by Decree 271/89, replacing the National Coordinating Commission for the Control of Drug Trafficking and Drug Abuse (Spanish: Comisión Nacional Coordinadora para el Control del Narcotráfico y el Abuso de Drogas).[7] Its first secretary was Alberto Lestelle, who was in office until 1995. Lestelle resigned in March 1995 after conducting an investigation into drug use among members of the National Congress; upon his resignation, Lestelle famously said that "a lot of deputies [do a bump of] cocaine in the bathroom" (Spanish: muchos diputados se dan un nariguetazo de cocaína en el baño).[8] Lestelle was succeeded by Gustavo Green, and Julio César Aráoz and Eduardo Amadeo also headed the secretariat during the rest of Menem's presidency.

During the presidency of Fernando de la Rúa, the SEDRONAR was headed by Lorenzo Cortese, who was involved in a controversial dispute with then-INADI director (later Supreme Court justice) Eugenio Zaffaroni over his –and the government's– opposition to the decriminalization of drug use.[9]

In 2004, President Néstor Kirchner appointed former Santa Cruz governor José Ramón Granero to the secretariat. Granero was in office through the presidencies of Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner until his resignation in 2011. Granero was involved in a number of controversies, including the discovery of seven unidentified kilograms of cocaine in SEDRONAR vehicles in 2008 and the lack of controls in the entry of ephedrine from Mexico into Argentine territory (both for which he was tried and found innocent due to lack of evidence).[10] Granero was finally asked his resignation by President Fernández de Kirchner due to his staunch opposition to decriminalization of drugs for personal use.[11]

Granero's place was taken by former foreign minister Rafael Bielsa, who held the position until 2013.[12] Bielsa was replaced by a priest, Juan Carlos Molina, who took office on 29 November 2013.[13] Molina was a vocal supporter of decriminalizing all drugs.[14] Under Molina's administration, the SEDRONAR cooperated with the Ministry of Federal Planning to set up two types of state-sponsored establishments aimed at curbing drug abuse and treating addictions: Casas Educativas Terapéuticas (CET, "educational therapeutic homes") and Centros Preventivos Locales de las Adicciones (CEPLA, "local preventive addiction centres").[15][16] Molina resigned for personal reasons in May 2015 and was replaced by Gabriel Lerner.[17]

President Mauricio Macri designated Roberto Moro to the SEDRONAR on 10 December 2015. On 12 January 2017, President Macri issued a decree overhauling the SEDRONAR, renaming it as the "Secretariat of Comprehensive Policies on Drugs" (while maintaining the same acronym) and stripping it of its presidential secretariat status, reorganizing it under the Office of the Cabinet Chief. A number of functions of the SEDRONAR were also reassigned to the Ministry of Security.[4]

Attributions

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The Secretariat is tasked with coordinating the Argentine state's policy on drug use and addiction. Its administration is based around two axes: reducing drug demand and reducing drug availability. On the first axis, the SEDRONAR seeks to establish communal support networks that may help reduce drug demand, thus establishing strategies and elaborating policies aimed at preventing the use of drugs.[18] The Secretariat also cooperates with the Ministry of Security to identify and disestablish illegal drug commerce and distribution.[19]

The SEDRONAR has two undersecretariats: the Undersecretariat of Prevention, Investigation and Statistics on Drugs (Spanish: Subsecretaría de Prevención, Investigación y Estadísticas en materia de Drogas) and the Undersecretariat of Attention and Care on Drugs (Spanish: Subsecretaría de Atención y Acompañamiento en materia de Drogas).[1]

Argentine Drugs Observatory

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The Argentine Drugs Observatory (Spanish: Observatorio Argentino de Drogas, OAD) was established in 2005 to create and interpret reliable information on the use and commerce of drugs in Argentina.[20] On a yearly basis, the OAD conducts a nation-wide survey on the state of drug use and commerce.[21]

List of secretaries

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No. Secretary Party Term President
Secretariat of Programming for the Prevention of Drug Addiction and the Fight against Drug Trafficking (1989–2017)
1 Alberto Lestelle Justicialist Party 17 July 1989 – 17 October 1995 Carlos Menem
2 Gustavo Green Justicialist Party 26 October 1995 – 16 February 1996
3 Julio César Aráoz Justicialist Party 18 February 1996 – 11 April 1998
4 Eduardo Amadeo Justicialist Party 11 April 1998 – 10 December 1999
5 Lorenzo Cortese Radical Civic Union 19 January 2000 – 20 December 2001 Fernando de la Rúa
6 Wilbur Ricardo Grimson Independent 25 February 2002 – 25 May 2003 Eduardo Duhalde
25 May 2003 – 13 July 2004 Néstor Kirchner
7 José Ramón Granero Justicialist Party 13 July 2004 – 10 December 2007
10 December 2007 – 20 December 2011 Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
8 Rafael Bielsa Justicialist Party 30 December 2011 – 20 March 2013
9 Juan Carlos Molina Justicialist Party 29 November 2013 – 14 May 2015
10 Gabriel Lerner Kolina 19 May 2015 – 10 December 2015
11 Roberto Moro Justicialist Party 10 December 2015 – 12 January 2017 Mauricio Macri
Secretariat of Comprehensive Policies on Drugs (2017–present)
11 Roberto Moro Justicialist Party 12 January 2017 – 10 December 2019 Mauricio Macri
12 Gabriela Torres Independent 13 January 2020 – December 2023 Alberto Fernández
13 Roberto Moro Independent Jan 2024 – present Javier Milei

References

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  1. ^ a b "Sedronar". argentina.gob.ar (in Spanish). 23 May 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Presupuesto 2021". Ministerio de Economía (in Spanish). 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  3. ^ SEDRONAR pasa a formar parte del Ministerio de Salud on Sedronar, 15 Jan 2024
  4. ^ a b c "El Sedronar cambia de nombre y funciones". Clarín (in Spanish). 13 January 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  5. ^ "Ratifican la continuidad de la secretaría de lucha contra la droga". La Nación (in Spanish). 11 February 2002. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  6. ^ "Gabriela Torres es la nueva titular de la SEDRONAR". Tiempo Argentino (in Spanish). 13 January 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  7. ^ "Decreto 271/89". Boletín Oficial de la República Argentina (in Spanish). 19 July 1989. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  8. ^ "Droga en el Congreso". Clarín (in Spanish). 27 January 1997. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  9. ^ "Polémica tras un fallo judicial. Dos funcionarios discuten por la despenalización de la droga". La Nación (in Spanish). 26 December 2000. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  10. ^ De Nicola, Gabriel (25 March 2011). "Falta de mérito para el jefe de la secretaría antidrogas". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  11. ^ Ruchansky, Emilio (14 December 2011). "Un cambio para la Sedronar". Página/12 (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  12. ^ "Rafael Bielsa renunció a la Sedronar". Infobae (in Spanish). 19 March 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  13. ^ "El Gobierno designó al sacerdote Juan Carlos Molina como nuevo director del Sedronar". Infobae (in Spanish). 29 November 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  14. ^ ""Yo habilitaría el consumo de todo", aseguró el titular de la Sedronar". La Nación (in Spanish). 21 September 2014. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  15. ^ "Recursos para la atención". Página/12 (in Spanish). 14 April 2014. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  16. ^ Socolsky, Claudio (7 January 2016). "Primeras brujas cazadas por aquí". Página/12 (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  17. ^ "Renunció Juan Carlos Molina, el cura que había asumido en la secretaría antidrogas". La Nación (in Spanish). 14 May 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  18. ^ "Programa de Capacitación en Consumos Problemáticos para Adultos Mayores y equipos de Salud Interdisciplinarios y Técnico Educativo". National Technological University (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  19. ^ Rodríguez, Carlos (29 May 2020). "Capacitan a fuerzas de seguridad para actuar en casos de consumo problemático". Página/12 (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  20. ^ Llovera, María Soledad; Scialla, Marina (July–December 2017). "Políticas de drogas en Argentina (2003-2015). Reflexiones en torno a la puja entre lo heredado y lo reformulado" [Drug Policies in Argentina (2003-2015). Reflections on the Struggle Between the Inherited and the Reformulated] (PDF). Temas y Debates (in Spanish). 34: 77–99. ISSN 1666-0714.
  21. ^ Gallo, Daniel (23 July 2017). "Drogas: en 7 años, se triplicó el consumo en los adolescentes". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 December 2020.
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