Latin America

Judi Lynn

(160,530 posts) Thu Dec 5, 2013, 04:43 PM Dec 2013

Uruguayan President Asks for World to Support His Marijuana Legalization Plan

Published on Tuesday, December 3, 2013 by FireDogLake

Uruguayan President Asks for World to Support His Marijuana Legalization Plan
by Jon Walker

With Uruguay about to potentially legalize marijuana President José Mujica is asking for international support for his plan. From Folha De Sao Paulo:

He says he has never smoked marijuana. “I don’t defend it, I wish it didn’t exist. No addiction is good. We are regulating a market that already exists. We can’t close our eyes to it. Repression has failed.”

Jokingly imitating someone under the effect of marijuana, he guarantees the country will not become the land of “free marijuana.”

“We are asking the world to help us with this experience, which will allow the adoption of a social and political experiment to face a serious problem – drug trafficking,” he says. “The effects of drug trafficking are worse than those of the drugs themselves.”

More:
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/12/03-11

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Uruguayan President Asks for World to Support His Marijuana Legalization Plan (Original Post) Judi Lynn Dec 2013 OP

Uruguay On the Verge of Becoming First Country In World to Legalize Marijuana Judi Lynn Dec 2013 #1

Judi Lynn

(160,530 posts)

1. Uruguay On the Verge of Becoming First Country In World to Legalize Marijuana

Reply to Judi Lynn (Original post)

Thu Dec 5, 2013, 05:39 PM

Dec 2013

AlterNet / By Hannah Hetzer
Uruguay On the Verge of Becoming First Country In World to Legalize Marijuana

It's about time.

December 3, 2013 |

It’s about time that we see a country bravely break with the failed prohibitionist model and try an innovative, more compassionate, and smarter approach. Next Tuesday, the Uruguayan Senate will vote on a bill that would make their country the first in the world to legally regulate the production, distribution and sale of marijuana for adults.

The marijuana legalization proposal was put forward by President José Mujica in June 2012 as part of a comprehensive package aimed at fighting crime and public insecurity. After a year and a half of studying the issue, engaging in political debate, redrafting the bill, and the emergence of a public campaign in favor of the proposal, Uruguay’s parliament is set to approve the measure this year. The bill was approved in the House of Representatives in July with 50 out of 96 votes and once approved in Senate, Uruguay will have 120 days to write the regulations before implementing the law.

The Uruguayan bill allows four forms of access to marijuana: medical marijuana through the Ministry of Public Health, domestic cultivation of 6 plants, membership clubs similar to those found in Spain, and licensed sale in pharmacies. It also prohibits sales to minors, driving under the influence, and all forms of advertising.

The Uruguayan proposal has also gained attention abroad over the past year, as momentum has built throughout the U.S., Latin America and elsewhere for broad drug policy reforms. In November 2012, Colorado and Washington became the first political jurisdictions anywhere in the world to approve the legal regulation of marijuana. In August, the White House announced that the federal government will not interfere with state marijuana laws – as long as a number of stipulations are adhered to, such as preventing distribution to minors.

More:
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/uruguay-verge-becoming-first-country-world-legalize-marijuana

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