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If the USA truly wanted to stop the drug trade, it would do so within 3-6 months. There would be social upheavals and violence, but addicts could get rehab, and the country would get BETTER.

If the Colombian economy didn't rely so heavily on the drug trade, they would shut it down within a year or less. There would be a LOT of bloodshed, but it would happen, and the country would recover and be BETTER.

Considering all the side-businesses that benefit from the drug trade (and the weak attempts to curb it), Illegal drugs are big business for all involved, and it's an open secret that the "War On Drugs" is a big joke.

So, this decertification news is a nothing-burger... it's all Performative Politics.

Nothing to see here, carry on...

If the USA truly wanted to stop the drug trade, it would do so within 3-6 months...If the Colombian economy didn't rely so heavily on the drug trade, they would shut it down within a year or less. - @ChineduOpara

It's just not that simple.  We truly want to stop murders, and lesser crimes too - but they still continue, in both countries.

Many factors mitigate against stopping drug crime (as well as other crime). 

For instance, geography.  Vast areas of Colombia are virtually inaccessible and virtually undetectable for growing and processing the coca plant, and other drug processing.  Vast border areas of the USA are literally wide-open and undefended.

For instance, corruption.  Vast sums of money are used to ensure safe passage.  If narcos pay you $1000 USD weekly just to look the other way, and the choice is either that, or torture your family and then a bullet in the head for you, which will you choose? ¿Plata o plomo? as the expression goes...

For instance, consumer demand.  What people want and are willing to pay good money for, someone will find a way to supply it, legal or not.

If you wish to prosecute a war on drugs, you must do so on all fronts - but one of the most effective strategies, although difficult, is eliminating the problem at the source.  It is easier and makes more sense to treat an infection at its source rather than try to treat it after it has spread everywhere.  De-certification is an attempt by the USA to get President Petro to do something along those lines, with help from the USA.  Given his links to the guerillas and the drug trade, it's not certain how much effect de-certification will have, but it's worth a try.

@OsageArcher

Good explainer, and yeah you're basically 100% right about the difficulties with stopping the drug trade by attacking the source and process (supply-side).

However, your point about fixing things on the "demand side" actually supports what I was saying: If the USA and parts of Europe truly wanted to shut down (or massively reduce) demand for illegal substances, we could do it within - let me be realistic - 5 years TOPS.

But we choose not to.

We have the technology and information. We once put a man on the moon. We can land rockets BACK on the planet and reuse them. We can (and did) shut down borders during the pandemic. Our medical research abilities are world-class. We produced an effective vaccine within an imaginably short time. We CAN do gene editing. We are on the verge of full-on AI-powered "companion droids". Quantum computing isn't that far away either.

We - the collective "we", led (and barely represented) by corrupt politicians and their billionaire owners - can surely end the drug trade IF WE TRULY WANTED TO.

But we choose not to.

And you know why. You know.