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Marijuana legalization in Uruguay: a path for Latin American countries?

The World Outline

Thursday 15 Aug 2013

Uruguay is the first country in the world to legalize the use and production of cannabis. After more than a year in public deliberation and an exhausting parliamentary debate, the lower Congress finally approved the bill to legalize and regulate the production and commerce of the drug. The bill is expected to be approved by the Senate, as the left-wing that is supporting the liberalization detains the majority.

With the new bill, Uruguayans are allowed to not only consume the drug, but also to grow a maximum of 6 plants in their homes and to create marijuana clubs, where each registered person may spend up to USD 100 in marijuana legally acquired. The law allows the purchase of maximum of 40 grams a months from a licensed pharmacy for registered citizens over 18 years old. The estimated price is USD 2,50 per gram, a price agreed after taking in consideration the rates used within the illegal trade, in order to avoid the continuation of drug tracking and selling.

Only licensed pharmacies will be able to sell marijuana legally, which will be defined by a national system that will grant special licenses. Nevertheless, this bill is bringing a polemic debate dividing the population in Uruguay. After a poll conducted in July, 63% of the population were against the new bill, whereby the opposition claim that such law would lead to an increase in consumption, whereas the ones supporting the bill argue that the prohibition of marijuana actually causes more damage to society, as the drug is commonly sold via organised crime, thus creating problems that arise from drug dealing, as well as leading to the consumption of clandestine products without standards or a transparent formula available to consumers.

This bill is actually in accordance to the last meeting of the Organisation of American States (OAE), where 34 Latin American countries agreed to encourage the formulation of innovative approaches towards problems related to drug usage. However, such act brings a controversial discussion. According to the United Nations Drugs Conventions, marijuana is internationally illegal, and the UN’s International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) already expressed concerns with the legalization in Uruguay, since such measure violates the international treaties ratified by the country.

Another important fact worth mentioning is that in the Netherlands, marijuana usage was legal, however its plantation and production by citizens was not. Hence, the new bill approved by the Uruguayan Congress represents in fact a global step forward in the liberalization of narcotics.

After the legalization of marijuana, Former President Tabaré Vásquez defends the legalization of cocaine, arguing that the population needs to be educated to understand the effects associated with the usage of such substances, where the access to information would a key tool to assist citizens in their choices, which in turn could decrease the usage, on contraire to what the opposition argues.

As a matter of fact, Vásquez defended the usage regulation with policies similar to the ones used to regulate tobacco, which were implemented during his administration. Still according to Vásquez, the word “drug” brings a connotation of prejudice in itself, whereby the regulation of such narcotics should follow the line adopted in alcohol regulation. Moreover, he argues that the policies implemented so far all over the world to diminish the problems associated with drug usage and narcotrafficking have not been successful, thereby demanding a new approaches to tackle such problems, which are of extreme importance for security in Latin America.

José Mujica, Uruguay’s President already stated that if the agreed rules are not respected, the country will make cannabis illegal again. Uruguay is considered one of the safest countries in the continent, and if such policies are implemented, its neighbours could observe lessons and possible collateral effects, thus assisting other countries to take in consideration similar policies as a new approach to deal with narcotics, whereby the state would have the control over such substances and how they circulate in country, which in turn could remove a great source of income of the drug cartels.

http://theworldoutline.com/2013/08/marijuana-legalization-uruguay-path-for-latin-america/

 

 

 

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