Breaking News:Dangerous Delays: What Washington State (Re)Teaches Us About Cash and Cannabis Store Robberies [REPORT]

Uruguay Legalizes Marijuana!

The Uruguayan Senate approved the government's marijuana legalization bill on a 16-13 vote Tuesday evening. It already passed the lower chamber, and it's the president's bill, so he's going to sign it. Uruguay will have a legal, state-regulated marijuana commerce 120 days after that.

Uruguayan President Jose Mujica
We'll have a feature article out on it shortly.

In the mean time, he's a news release from the Drug Policy Alliance:

 

Uruguay Becomes First Country In World to Legalize Marijuana

Uruguayan Senate Approves President Mujica’s Bill to Tax and Regulate Marijuana

Initiative Reflects Broad Political Shift as Latin American Countries Seek Alternatives to Drug Prohibition and the War on Drugs

 

The Uruguayan Senate has just approved a bill that makes their country the first in the world to legally regulate the production, distribution and sale of marijuana for adults. The final vote was 16 out of 29 votes in the Senate. The bill was approved in the House of Representatives in July with 50 out of 96 votes and now Uruguay will have 120 days to write the regulations before implementing the law.

 

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 today gave final approval to the measure.

 

“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,” said Hannah Hetzer, who is based out of Montevideo, Uruguay, as the Policy Manager of the Americas for the Drug Policy Alliance. “For 40 years, marijuana prohibition has been attempted and it simply hasn’t worked. But rather than closing their eyes to the problem of drug abuse and drug trafficking, Uruguay has chosen responsible regulation of an existing reality. Let’s hope others soon follow suit!” 

 

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.

 

“Last year, Colorado and Washington; this year, Uruguay; and next year, Oregon and hopefully more states as well,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance.  “We still have a long way to go but who would have believed, just five years ago, that legalizing marijuana would become a mainstream political reality so quickly both in the United States and abroad?!”

 

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.

 

In the year since Mujica’s announced his proposal, support for the initiative has risen among diverse sectors of Uruguayan society. A national TV ad campaign, featuring a mothera doctor, and a lawyer explaining the measure's benefits on public safety and health – has reached hundreds of thousands of Uruguayans.  Regulación Responsable (“Responsible Regulation”), the coalition of prominent Uruguayan organizations and individuals that support the initiative, has held events around the country, sparking debate at all levels. LGBT, women’s rights, health, student, environmental and human rights organizations have all united to support Regulación Responsable, alongside trade unions, doctors, musicians, lawyers, athletes, writers, actors and academics.

 

“This is a truly diverse movement comprised of people who believe that marijuana reform will benefit all of Uruguayan society,” said Hetzer.  

 

In mid-July, the former president of Brazil and chair of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, publicly praised Uruguay in an op-ed published throughout the region. A week later, Uruguayan members of Congress received a letter of support signed by 65 Mexican legislators, congratulating their “leadership” in promoting “better drug policies and laws.” And the week before the House vote, these Uruguayan members of Congress received a second letter of support signed by more than 100 organizations worldwide, celebrating “the immense contribution and comprehensive proposal to deal with the implications that drugs have on health, development, security and human rights.” 

 

In recent years, debate and political will for drug policy reform has gained unprecedented momentum in Latin America. In 2011, Kofi Annan, Paul Volcker and Richard Branson joined former presidents Fernando Henrique Cardoso (Brazil), César Gaviria (Colombia) and Ernesto Zedillo (Mexico) and other distinguished members of the Global Commission on Drug Policy in saying the time had come to “break the taboo” on exploring alternatives to the failed war on drugs – and to “encourage experimentation by governments with models of legal regulation of drugs,” especially marijuana.

 

More recently, current presidents Juan Manuel Santos in Colombia, Otto Perez Molina in Guatemala, and José Mujica in Uruguay have joined these calls for reform. In May, the Organization of American States produced a report, commissioned by heads of state of the region, that included marijuana legalization as a likely policy alternative. The OAS report predicted a likely hemispheric move towards marijuana legalization in the coming years.

 

Mujica and this growing chorus of current and former Latin American political leaders are contending that legal regulation will separate marijuana users from the offer of more dangerous drugs on the black market, allow access to medical marijuana for patients in need, and enable Uruguay to reinvest the millions of dollars now flowing into the pockets of drug traffickers into education, treatment and prevention of problematic drug use. “By approving this measure, Uruguay has taken the broad regional discussion on alternatives to drug prohibition one step further. This represents a concrete advance in line with growing anti-drug war rhetoric in Latin America and throughout the world,” said Hetzer.

Location: 
Montevidoe
Uruguay
Permission to Reprint: This article is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license.
Looking for the easiest way to join the anti-drug war movement? You've found it!

Long live the December

Long live the December revolution! December 10 is a date that shall live in history. Uruguay has been liberated. May the entire USA and many other countries join Uruguay and North Korea as cannabis liberated areas.

What do you mean North Korea?

What do you mean North Korea? Are you fucking crazy?

Noble Peace Prize for President Mujica

A Noble Peace Prize to President Mujica and his colleagues. What they have done in Uruguay will prove to the world that there never was a need for the totalitarian police state approach to marijuana consumption. Over the next year the most importanat news we will hear from Uruguay will be the same news we heard from Colorado and Washington over the last year since they legalized, which is no news.There have been no plagues of kids on drugs or road smashes due to marijuana. The hospitals are not full of OD's or schizophrenics high on drugs. Criminals have not taken over the state. It's just another day. What happens in Uruguay will echo around the world. As other nations follow and legalize, crime, corruption, violence and terrorism will gradually decrease. Nothing could do more for world peace than ending the drug war.

I am not crazy

Dear reaper madness, I am not crazy. The fact is that marijuana has always been legal in North Korea. Whatever you may feel about socialism or any number of issues regarding North Korea the only issue I am dealing with is whether a country has legal marijuana or not. While both North Korea and Uruguay now have legal marijuana there is one crucial difference between North Korea and Uruguay. The difference is that North Korea never signed the single convention treaty and therefore never confronted that treaty. Uruguay however did sign that treaty and is now confronting that treaty. Uruguay is the first country to re-legalize cannabis after it had been made illegal and is the first to confront the single convention treaty. This is Uruguay's historic contribution. Say what you like about North Korea on any other issue but cannabis has always been legal there. If you do not believe me look up the legal status of cannabis around the world in wikipedia and you will find cannabis is and always has been legal in North Korea. While I have my own opinions about socialism I am not dealing with that issue here. I am only dealing with cannabis related issues here.

I can't even begin to

I can't even begin to comprehend why you would think an Orwellian totalitarian police state like North Korea is awesome just because according to you it doesn't have any laws against weed. I don't really have anything against socialism btw. I have heard proponents of socialism make some very good points. I am just against the way some of these countries (former Soviet Union, Maoist China, Cuba, North Korea etc.) implemented it. It has caused many people a great deal of suffering. Ever heard of the gulags, forced collectivization, re-education camps, executions, labour camps, man-made famines, etc. Those are things that still exist in North Korea, which is a pretty backwards isolated country with a brainwashed population. Some people literally starve to death in the streets. They also torture and/or execute dissidents and opponents of the regime. Maybe you should open a history book and learn what communism (a very extreme form of socialism) was really about. Here is a source: https://archive.org/download/TheBlackBookofCommunism10/the-black-book-of.... I am pretty much a left leaning centrist/libertarian. I hate all forms of extremist ideologies. Communism and Fascism are the worst. I assume (forgive me if I am wrong) you are very young. Just grow up... please.

Uruguay marjuana legalization

NOBODY said NK was "awesome" for ANY reason.  It was only stated they hadn't signed a treaty that would have made mj illegal. Hmmm, probably the only smart thing they've ever done.

Uruguay marjuana legalization

 

NOBODY said NK was "awesome" for ANY reason.  It was only stated they hadn't signed a treaty that would have made mj illegal. Hmmm, probably the only smart thing they've ever done.

NOBODY said NK was "awesome"

NOBODY said NK was "awesome" for ANY reason.  It was only stated they hadn't signed a treaty that would have made mj illegal. Hmmm, probably the only smart thing they've ever done.

Keep to the subject

Please keep to the subject of marijuana legalization. I am only dealing with the question of marijuana legalization. Why do you go off on irrelevant issues that have nothing to do with cannabis reform. I never even commented negatively or positively about the socio-economic system in any of these countries. Can it be that you are more interested in the issues about socio-economic systems than the cannabis reform issue. As we are on a drug reform site let's stick to the cannabis reform issue. By the way I am 54 years old and I am not a young person.

This is history for Uruguay

The legalization of MJ in Uruguay is certainly a milestone which many countries are also in hope of achieving. But the division within the community will still exist. 

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <i> <blockquote> <p> <address> <pre> <h1> <h2> <h3> <h4> <h5> <h6> <br> <b>

More information about formatting options

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Drug War Issues

Criminal JusticeAsset Forfeiture, Collateral Sanctions (College Aid, Drug Taxes, Housing, Welfare), Court Rulings, Drug Courts, Due Process, Felony Disenfranchisement, Incarceration, Policing (2011 Drug War Killings, 2012 Drug War Killings, 2013 Drug War Killings, 2014 Drug War Killings, 2015 Drug War Killings, 2016 Drug War Killings, 2017 Drug War Killings, Arrests, Eradication, Informants, Interdiction, Lowest Priority Policies, Police Corruption, Police Raids, Profiling, Search and Seizure, SWAT/Paramilitarization, Task Forces, Undercover Work), Probation or Parole, Prosecution, Reentry/Rehabilitation, Sentencing (Alternatives to Incarceration, Clemency and Pardon, Crack/Powder Cocaine Disparity, Death Penalty, Decriminalization, Defelonization, Drug Free Zones, Mandatory Minimums, Rockefeller Drug Laws, Sentencing Guidelines)CultureArt, Celebrities, Counter-Culture, Music, Poetry/Literature, Television, TheaterDrug UseParaphernalia, Vaping, ViolenceIntersecting IssuesCollateral Sanctions (College Aid, Drug Taxes, Housing, Welfare), Violence, Border, Budgets/Taxes/Economics, Business, Civil Rights, Driving, Economics, Education (College Aid), Employment, Environment, Families, Free Speech, Gun Policy, Human Rights, Immigration, Militarization, Money Laundering, Pregnancy, Privacy (Search and Seizure, Drug Testing), Race, Religion, Science, Sports, Women's IssuesMarijuana PolicyGateway Theory, Hemp, Marijuana -- Personal Use, Marijuana Industry, Medical MarijuanaMedicineMedical Marijuana, Science of Drugs, Under-treatment of PainPublic HealthAddiction, Addiction Treatment (Science of Drugs), Drug Education, Drug Prevention, Drug-Related AIDS/HIV or Hepatitis C, Harm Reduction (Methadone & Other Opiate Maintenance, Needle Exchange, Overdose Prevention, Pill Testing, Safer Injection Sites)Source and Transit CountriesAndean Drug War, Coca, Hashish, Mexican Drug War, Opium ProductionSpecific DrugsAlcohol, Ayahuasca, Cocaine (Crack Cocaine), Ecstasy, Heroin, Ibogaine, ketamine, Khat, Kratom, Marijuana (Gateway Theory, Marijuana -- Personal Use, Medical Marijuana, Hashish), Methamphetamine, New Synthetic Drugs (Synthetic Cannabinoids, Synthetic Stimulants), Nicotine, Prescription Opiates (Fentanyl, Oxycontin), Psilocybin / Magic Mushrooms, Psychedelics (LSD, Mescaline, Peyote, Salvia Divinorum)YouthGrade School, Post-Secondary School, Raves, Secondary School