Huffington Post- MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — Uruguay's Senate gave final congressional approval Tuesday 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.
To be honest I'm not exactly sure how Uruguay is the first country to legalize and oversee production of marijuana. Hasn't Amsterdam, Canada, and parts of the United States done this already? It still baffles me how countries spend billions of dollars fighting "The War on Drugs" when they could be earning that money through production and distribution.
Uruguay hasn't been the center of anything since Pangaea, so the fact they are the first to jump on the L train surprises me. I feel like this move can't lose. Drug lords will eventually be put out of business, Uruguay's economy is going to rapidly grow, and we are going to see other countries start to follow suit. Most importantly the killings will decrease. Mexico should take notice on how this plays out, because too many people are killed over green trees, and green paper.
The crazy part about marijuana is how society and the government looks at it. We live in a Prozac nation, where every problem is just a pill away. Apparently 95% of kids have ADHD (80HD to black twitter), or some other bullshit excuse for the pharmaceutical companies to get rich. Pain killers, anxiety drugs, and cigarettes are handed out like AID's in the 1980's yet a plant from the earth is illegal?
It's a backwards system but it's great to see Uruguay cut the red tape, and hopefully change the societal norm on what is considered acceptable.
80HD hahahaha awesome
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