Colombian President Gustavo Petro has said that “cocaine is no worse than whisky,” as he suggested the multibillion dollar illicit trade in the drug could be “easily dismantled” if it was legalized worldwide.

Cocaine ‘is no worse than whiskey’ – these are the words of Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro. He said during a live broadcast of a government meeting that the drug is only illegal because it comes from Latin America.

In a first-of-its-kind, six-hour live broadcast ministerial meeting in the South American country, Colombian President Gustavo Petro argued that cocaine is only illegal because of global politics — further claiming that it can be consumed as casually as alcohol, according to a report.