By Michael Soltys, Senior Editor of Buenos Aires Herald.

Many people will rightly feel that the most portentous development of an eventful Tuesday was the return of open warfare between the government and the farming sector but this dispute will dominate the news for days, if not weeks to come while the Supreme Court ruling to decriminalize drug possession (against which there is no appeal) will vanish from front pages immediately — today’s editorial will therefore give pride of place to the latter issue.

While all seven Supreme Court justices made Article 19 of the Constitution (protecting private actions which do not disturb public order) the touchstone of their ruling, their underlying argument was more pragmatic than theoretical — the notion that making simple possession a penal offence was a tremendous waste of police resources which could far more profitably be deployed against drug-traffickers (hypothetically agreeing with the casual pot-smoker telling the officer arresting him: “Why aren’t you catching the real criminals?”). In some ways this follows the logic learned from the Prohibition experience in the United States (i.e. that making a popular activity illegal and hence inevitably criminal vastly boosts the scale of organized crime) but it should be stressed that Tuesday’s ruling does not actually legalize drugs, only their individual possession and use, and the laws still remain the same until amended by Congress. The newly vindicated rights may not be exercised at the expense of the underaged or third parties (passive smoking) and it is not even clear that this precedent extends beyond marijuana.

Yet while the Supreme Court ruling follows global trends, there are various grounds for misgivings. This ruling may free police resources to crack down on drug-traffickers but it also makes the latter’s job easier when it comes to peddling their wares. Even marijuana can be a slippery slope towards far more dangerous drugs such as paco cocaine paste — drugs remain hazardous for the health (as does alcohol, even if nobody today would agree with Prohibition). Much of the justification for decriminalizing possession lies in conferring addict and hence victim status on users — this goes against free will but rather more to the point, does Argentina really have the facilities to treat addicts as such or will they be left to the mercies of the mean streets of Greater Buenos Aires? Perhaps the Supreme Court ruling should mark the start of a debate rather than the last word.