Uruguay moves to legalise marijuana

Left-wing government recently made gay marriage
and abortion legal
Uruguay's Senate has approved pioneering
legislation that will allow the country to legalise the
cultivation and sale of marijuana on a nationwide
scale. Uruguay's left-wing president, José Mujica, a
supporter of the measure, has signaled that he will
enact the legislation in coming days.
Under the legislation, approved by a vote of 16-13,
Uruguay would create a state-run Institute for the
Regulation and Control of Cannabis to oversee the
planting, harvesting and sale of marijuana. The drug
would be sold at pharmacies, with buyers signing up
in a state registry, a process enabling them to
purchase as much as 40 grams a month at $1 a
gram.
The action on the bill followed years of debate in
Uruguay, which has been grappling with an increase
in drug-related violence. Opponents contended the
measure would open the way for greater drug use in
Uruguay while supporters claimed it would remove
the marijuana trade from the domain of illegal
traffickers, allowing the authorities to regulate and
tax marijuana consumption.
"We are convinced that we can apply our own policy
to drugs in compliance with international norms,"
said Roberto Conde, a senator in Uruguay's
governing Broad Front coalition.
Under Mr Mujica, Uruguay has emerged as one of
Latin America's most progressive nations, moving to
legalise gay marriage and abortion. The lower house
of Uruguay's congress approved the marijuana bill in
July.
Most Uruguayans oppose the legalisation of
marijuana, according to polls, but the Broad Front
coalition of leftist parties still seemed to be popular
enough to expose itself to disapproval over the law.
"This is seen as forming part of a new agenda, which,
in terms of legal rights, Uruguay has advanced in
recent years," said Adolfo Garcé, a political scientist
at the University of the Republic in Montevideo, the
capital. While marijuana is already tolerated to a
large degree in Uruguay, the law would allow
households to grow as many as six plants each and
cooperatives to form to grow as many as 99 plants
together. All growers would be required to register
their production with the government, which plans to
import seeds from abroad and control the potency of
plants.
Some opposition to the law has been voiced in
neighbouring countries, while the International
Narcotics Control Board of the United Nations has
also expressed concern. "We could turn into a
regional centre of cannabis tourism, as the region
fears," said Alfredo Solari, an opposition senator in
Uruguay. In an attempt to prevent drug tourism, the
law would limit purchases of marijuana in
pharmacies to Uruguayan citizens over the age of 18.
NYT
Supporters of the bill celebrate after the Uruguayan
Senate approved a government-sponsored bill that
provides for regulation of the cultivation, distribution
and consumption of marijuana during a session in
Montevideo.
Sent From David Aniemeka