Uruguay becomes first nation to legalise marijuana trade

[Kanzler]

Uruguay has become the first country in the world to make it legal to grow, sell and consume marijuana.

After nearly 12 hours of debate, senators gave the government-sponsored bill their historic final approval.

The law allowing registered Uruguayans over 18 to buy up to 40g (1,4oz) of the drug a month is not expected to come into force before April.

The government hopes it will help tackle drug cartels, but critics say it will expose more people to drugs.

Dozens of supporters of the bill proposed by the left-wing President Jose Mujica gathered outside the Congress in Montevideo to follow the vote.

Presenting the bill to fellow senators, Roberto Conde said it was an unavoidable response to reality, given that the "war" against drugs had failed.

"We have the duty as the state to give a specific answer to an open territory, small and non-producing," Mr Conde said, adding that Uruguay's borders were used by cartels to smuggle drugs into neighbouring countries.

But many senators also spoke out against the bill, before it was passed by 16 votes to 13 on Tuesday.

The opposition member Alfredo Solari said Uruguay should not "experiment" on its people.

"This project envisages a social engineering experiment and respects none of the ethic safeguards of experimentation on human beings, and these are important in the case of a substance like marijuana, which causes damage to human beings," Senator Solari told Reuters news agency.

Debate continues
The project had already been approved by Uruguay's lower house in July.

It had also drawn international criticism. The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) warned the law would "be in complete contravention to the provisions of the international drug treaties to which Uruguay is party".

The INCB is an independent body of experts established by the United Nations to monitor countries' compliance with international drug treaties.

The historic approval comes amid growing debate over drug legalisation in Latin America.

A group of former presidents and influential social figures, including Brazil's Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Mexico's Ernesto Zedillo and Colombian ex-leader Cesar Gaviria, have called for marijuana to be legalised and regulated.

But President Mujica recently asked during an interview why the former leaders only spoke out about the legalisation of marijuana after they had left office.

In July, without naming Uruguay directly, Pope Francis criticised drug legalisation plans during a visit to Brazil.

So the Uruguayan government is planning to get on top of the cannabis trade. Is this the first block in a domino effect? Will it achieve its intended purpose? Should other countries consider this as well?

Thoughts?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-25328656

 

[Outlier]

Thoughts?

Great news! I'm against prohibition for reasons I've already gone on about ad nauseam in the drugs thread. Out of all the drugs to be legalized it makes sense that weed should one of the first. Hopefully the rest of the world follows suit.

 

[Livewire]

I think it could very well could be the beginning of something. It's really important because of Uraguay's geographic position. Imagine if the rest of Central/Northern S. America follows suit - imagine what it would mean for the drug cartels. Take away the illegality, means there's more supply and potentially more demand, possibly even less demand. Even if demand goes up, so long as the supply is there, there goes the lucrative outcome for shipping the drugs- it will cost less. It's probably designed to hit the cartels hard, which it may do. It's interesting to see what's going to happen elsewhere.

 

[Mark Kamill]

Cool. Pots one of the drugs I never understood in terms of its illegality, considering what else is legal(alcohol and cigarettes). Not too sure on the effect it has on cartels, cause that could boomerang to a boost in sales for the more dangerous stuff, but if you legalize one drug, I guess its gonna be all anyone needs.

 

[Rezilia]

Well, looks like everyone's moving to Uruguay.

 

[LoudSilence]

Well, looks like everyone's moving to Uruguay.

Legality hasn't seemed to stop anyone who was intent on doing marijuana though.

I don't care for drugs, but like others have said I'm curious what this will do to the drug trading business. I feel like the impact won't be too heavy on cartels though; pot has always been kind of a low-tier drug anyway, hasn't it? Like not worth as much as coke, meth, speed, etc.

 

[Negix]

I have to say that them doing this has its benefits. Usually when people buy marijuana they don't get it in stores or anything. However, legalizing this and putting it on the market is another way of making more income. With this in mind, anyone is free to go to a store where they sell it and buy it. What I do want to know is if they put some restriction to the use of this. For example, the quantity a person can buy and laws to prevent you from smoking it in public. I understand the laws against smoking inside public places still stands but lets say you see various people smoking it out in the park. Does the smoke affect you more than regular cigarettes? Does it have secondary effects on the individuals casually strolling around the area? How about someone who has asthma and breathes in all of this smoke, how will it affect that person? Some things should be taken into consideration before making a final decision.

Being the first place to legalize it has its advantages. One of them is monopolizing this kind of drug in the market and forcing the closure of various drug cartels. But the question is just how much will this affect the ordinary lives of everyone. Its not like there was anything stopping you from doing this before, but now that its legal, just how many people will report to work being stoned or affected by this? Thus I come to the conclusion that even if it is a good thing that this happened, it can also influence and create bad living manners in the lives of many.

 

[twocows]

I see a lot of upsides and nearly no downsides. I hope similar measures are enacted here in the US.

 

[Kanzler]

I think a lot of countries will watch and wait. The success of this new policy could determine how other countries follow suit - if drug consumption and its burden on the economy and healthcare systems explode, expect the current opposition to the War on Drugs to diminish.

 

[Fairy]

Legality hasn't seemed to stop anyone who was intent on doing marijuana though.

I don't care for drugs, but like others have said I'm curious what this will do to the drug trading business. I feel like the impact won't be too heavy on cartels though; pot has always been kind of a low-tier drug anyway, hasn't it? Like not worth as much as coke, meth, speed, etc.

Well, it terms of criminalization, Marijuana, in the US at least, has always been a schedule one narcotic. So possession, distribution, and consumption of the drug is tantamount to any other narcotic. It's also somewhat more risky for the cartel to get across borders as marijuana has more volume by weight compared to other powder/brick drugs that are odorless. But you are right in some respects, marijuana is less expensive than some drugs. However, meth and heroin, most notable, are cheaper to manufacture and distribute.

As for my opinion, well, I honestly don't have one! I've always been a long standing advocate for lowing the schedule tier of marijuana and decriminalizing possession offenses so the jails aren't so overpopulated with petty, nickle and dime offenders. But that sort of reflects my opinion on prison occupancy as opposed to legalizing weed. I do though, feel that full blown legalization can be potentially very, very dangerous for people; possibly leading to more drug use and criminal behavior. That said, it's not like one could run a small scale experiment, and you just couldn't account for all the variables that are present so my opinion is fairly unfounded. I hope Uruguay the best though!

 

[Corvus of the Black Night]

Honestly I think this is an awesome idea. Why? Because by offering marijuana at such a low price, the illegal trade cannot compete. This also helps people from getting bad strains or moldy crap. In addition it helps deter other illegal markets in other countries by making it more difficult to maintain the cartels that keep that **** going.

Also, can anyone give me one good reason why marijuana should stay banned anywhere? Like, really. Has never killed anyone directly, has actual benefits with certain cancers and mental issues, ect. I have severe OCD and anxiety issues that were staved a lot when I was on the stuff, so I can't help but say it's definitely got a place in this world.

But yeah, I'm just saying, oh, I've had the stuff so it's great! Lol don't just listen to that, really I mean that. You should go and do your own research and find out the studies and stuff.

Oh, by the way, marijuana laws are RIDICULOUS in the US. There's a kid in Mississippi who's getting LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE because he was caught with dope one too many times. ****ing insane. What the hell, America. It's also pretty unfair in standard drug tests because of the chemistry with THC, which makes marijuana detectable for up to 4 times longer (and in some cases even longer!) in standard urine tests. So yeah, the laws and private regulations we have are pretty bogus in my opinion and I hope that they legalize the stuff soon, not just so I can be a stoner but because quite honestly for something that is noticeably less dangerous as alcohol then why the hell is alcohol legal and marijauna isn't? Hint: It's cultural!

I'm a little tired and weirded out from the cold, so I might edit this later... I know it's a mess

 

[Aegis Gundam]

Here in Brazil, the entire parliament is on fire with this legalization, I think it is due to political connection with drug trafficking in latin america.