This thesis addresses journalism contribution to shaping the debate about drugs policy through a content analysis of op-ed pages published between 2009 and 2013 in four reference mass media in Colombia. We identified the participant's profiles, their arguments and the defended policies they proposed, and how they presented their views in El Espectador, El Tiempo, La Silla Vacía and Semana. The development of the discussion in these texts shows an evolution regarding the subject as there is a transformation of the punitive paradigm towards a less restrictive way of facing illicit drugs production, trafficking and consumption. It is suggested that some conjunctures partially motivated this change by exercising influence on the turns and visibility that debate takes place within the press.
