Kast promotes mandatory drug testing for all public officials in Chile

The President of Chile, José Antonio Kast, voluntarily underwent a drug test and announced that he will promote a bill to make the test mandatory for all public officials and political leaders in the country.

The initiative is part of an Executive agenda aimed at strengthening transparency and control in the State, in a regional context marked by the advance of drug trafficking and organized crime, seeking to raise the demands on those who hold public office and recover citizen trust.

Kast performed a capillary analysis of narcotics at the Chilean Safety Association (ACHS), a procedure that can detect drug use over a longer period than traditional urine tests. As he explained, he decided to do so voluntarily to give a clear signal from the country's highest authority

.

After undergoing the examination, the president maintained that those who hold public office must demonstrate that they are completely away from any link with drug trafficking. Along these lines, he stated that the fight against organized crime requires not only security policies, but also guarantees of integrity in the leadership

.

The Chilean president also explained that the test cost close to 300 dollars, which he paid personally, and announced that in the coming weeks he will send a bill to Congress to extend the mandatory nature of these controls.

Currently, Chilean legislation requires this type of examination only to ministers and vice-ministers, while in the case of legislators, they are applied at random. Kast's proposal seeks to modify this scheme and extend the requirement to parliamentarians, governors, mayors, councilors

and party authorities.

The project also contemplates updating Decree 1.215 of 2006, incorporating hair analysis as a standard method. This type of test can detect substance use in a window of up to 90 days, making it a more accurate tool for this type of control.

In addition, the Executive will seek to guarantee the funding of studies and establish the obligation to submit certificates that prove the absence of drug use or dependence as a condition for holding public office.