This document is based on the question about ¿why despite the costs and inconclusive results of the war against drugs, it has continued over the last 40 years? This paper analyzes the factors that motivated the US to begin a process of discursive construction in order to transform the problem of drugs into a national and worldwide security threat. It also inquires about how Colombia took advantage of that situation in order to constantly redefine its national identity and push forward its own interests. This problem is studied based on the perspective of securitization and the optic of the search for national interests founded on the theoretical premises of constructivism. Therefore, it evidences how the construction of the war against drugs has depended on the identity (personality) of the States, their policies and the interests of their governors, but also there have been elements of the historical context that have strengthened its development. Finally, it closes with the proposal of a possible des-securitization process of the illicit drugs problem.
