Francisco Thoumi studied Economics at the ‘Universidad de los Andes’ in Colombia and has a PhD in Economics from the University of Minnesota. After his studies, he worked in high-profile academic positions in the California State University and the George Washington University and held important positions within the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank. Furthermore, he worked as a Chief within the National Planning Department of Colombia. During his career, Mr. Thoumi has evolved as an expert, researcher and writer on drug policy issues. Among several positions in this field, he worked between 1999 and 2000 as a research coordinator for the former United Nations Office on Drug Control and Crime Prevention under their Global Programme Against Money Laundering and between 1993 and 1996 as a regional coordinator under United Nations Drug Policy’s UNDP Research Programme on the Economic Effects of the Illegal Drug Industry in Bolivia, Colombia and Peru.