Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Tuesday said that cocaine is only illegal because it is produced in Latin America and suggested that legalizing it could diminish criminal organisations' profits.

Petro during a cabinet roundtable compared cocaine to whisky and and said is "not worse than whisky." "That is what scientists are analyzing. What indeed is affecting the US is fentanyl, which is killing them," he said.

He suggested that criminal syndicates' operations could be effectively eliminated through worldwide cocaine legalisation. "It could be sold like wine," he said, suggesting that regulated sales could prevent youth consumption.