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UNITED NATIONS – The leaders of three Latin American nations hit hard by drug trafficking called on the membership of the United Nations on Wednesday to promote a debate on alternative ways to combat drug trafficking.

In an unusually energetic address to the annual opening of the U.N. General Assembly, Mexican President Felipe Calderon insisted the world body must do more if developed nations that use “tons and tons of drugs” cannot reduce consumption.

More than just analyze the problem, the United Nations should head “a profound international debate” about ways to cut down on trafficking, he said.

The presidents of Colombia and Guatemala also urged the world body to explore alternatives to the traditional “war on drugs.” Guatemala’s leader had been expected to repeat his call for drug legalization to be considered, but he did not explicitly mention it.

Calderon’s speech was his last to the U.N. as Mexico’s head of state. President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto takes office Dec. 1.

During his six years in office, Mexico’s president has waged an offensive against drug cartels, and at least 47,000 people have died in drug-related violence, most of them as a result of fighting among the cartels.