Finally a country is passing a marijuana law that is comprehensive, applies common sense, and gives citizens multiple options for enjoying the effects of one of the world's most widely-used, beneficial plants. The law has been approved in Parliament and now has to be approved by the Senate, where it is expected to pass because President José Mujica's leftist government also holds a majority there.
What distinguishes this progressive marijuana law from decriminalization and legalization laws elsewhere is that it is designed not only to give citizens the freedom to enjoy and procure marijuana as they see fit, within a legal framework, but is also designed in a manner that boxes the drug cartels and organized crime out of marijuana production and distribution. Adult citizens and residents will be able to register as legal users and then have the following options available:
they can legally purchase up to 40 grams of marijuana per month from pharmacies.
alternately, they can be self-providers and grow up to 6 plants themselves at any given time.
or they can join a small marijuana grower's club/cooperative, where 15 or more people can grow up to 99 plants.
All of this will be regulated by a government commission and sales of marijuana will be taxed.
One huge advantage to this law is that researchers will finally be able to freely and easily study the medicinal benefits of cannabis.
Another possible benefit is that it can cut down on indoor growing, which is a huge electricity hog.
But the greatest benefit would be the hit that the profits generated by organized crime take. When one considers that anywhere from 30% to 80% of mexican drug cartel income comes from the sale of marijuana, the Uruguayan law can serve as a blueprint for strongly reducing the income and might of the drug cartels. In fact, if laws like this one were introduced across the Americas, the drug cartels would likely be hurt more than they have ever been during the 40 years since Nixon launched the now failed "War on Drugs".
And that's probably why the General Secretary of the Organization of Latin American States is in favor of the Uruguayan law and former presidents of Brazil, Mexico, and Columbia also are in favor of legalizing Marijuana:
Former presidents of three of Latin America’s largest economies — Brazil, Mexico and Colombia — have jointly called for marijuana legalization. In the U.S., the states of Washington and Colorado last fall voted to legalize pot. Now that the OAS has joined that chorus, both the White House and the U.S. Congress need to join the discussion with more open ears
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http://world.time.com/...
President Obama, Democratic legislators, I hope you are listening.
It is high time for the U.S. to have a sensible marijuana policy.