Uruguay's Senate gave final congressional approval
last week to create the world's first national marketplace for legal marijuana,
an audacious experiment that will have the government oversee production, sales
and consumption of a drug illegal almost everywhere else.
The vote was 16 to 13, with the governing Broad
Front majority united in favor. The plan now awaits the signature of President
Jose Mujica, who wants the market to begin operating next year.
Two-thirds of Uruguayans oppose a government-run
marijuana industry, according to opinion polls. But Mujica said he's convinced
the global drug war is a failure and feels bureaucrats can do a better job of
containing addictions and beating organized crime than police, soldiers and
prison guards.
"Today is an historic day. Many countries of
Latin America, and many governments, will take this law as an example,"
cheered Sen. Constanza Moreira, voting with the Broad Front majority.
Uruguay's drug control agency will have 120 days,
until mid-April, to draft regulations imposing state control over the entire
market for marijuana, from seed to smoke.
Everyone involved must be licensed and registered,
with government monitors enforcing limits such as the 40 grams a month any
adult will be able to buy at pharmacies for any reason or the six marijuana
plants that license-holders will be allowed to grow at home.
Congress' lower house approved the bill in late
July, and senators rejected all proposed amendments, enforcing party discipline
before Tuesday's debate to assure the outcome.
Former Health Minister Alfredo Solari, a Colorado
Party senator, warned Tuesday that children and adolescents will more easily
get their hands on pot and that "the effects of this policy on public
health will be terrible."
But Sen. Roberto Conde, a former deputy foreign
minister with the Broad Front, said marijuana "is already established in
Uruguay. It's a drug that is already seen as very low risk and enormously easy
to get."
So, let's all move to Uruguay...
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