Uruguay: 1st country in the world to make it legal to grow, sell and consume MJ

[Peeperkorn]

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.
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"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 are used by cartels to smuggle drugs into neighbouring countries.
'Experiment on people'

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.

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".


    State controls the production, distribution, commerce and consumption of marijuana
    Consumers have to be over 18 and registered
    Marijuana to be sold at licensed pharmacies
    Sales are limited to 40g (1.4oz) per month
    Registered users can grow up to six plants at home (I will plant three)

[Peeperkorn]

Actually I understand its not even the first country in South America as marijuana is already completely legal in Peru.

consumption =/= selling.

[Peeperkorn]

Uruguay Considers Using Medical Marijuana To Treat Cocaine Addicts In Prison

NEW YORK -- Uruguay is considering using medical marijuana to treat prison inmates addicted to a crude and cheap form of cocaine, one of the country's top health officials said Thursday at the United Nations.

The South American country made headlines last year when it became the first in the world to legalize the sale of marijuana. Now, as Uruguay prepares to implement its pioneering legislation, health leaders are considering possible uses for medical forms of marijuana -- including in prisons, where many of the incarcerated are addicted to drugs.

"Jail is not a very suitable place for someone to safely overcome drug addiction," Leonel Briozzo, the country's undersecretary for public health, said in an event at the U.N. Briozzo called for "new strategies for drug addiction treatment, especially for harder drugs like 'pasta base.' And in that sense, we harbor a possible hope that medical marijuana can play a role in this as well."

"Pasta base" -- also known as "paco" -- is cocaine base paste, a byproduct of the cocaine refining process. The cheap drug swept through Uruguay and neighboring Argentina during the 2000s, leaving public health officials struggling to control its fallout.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/04/uruguay-medical-marijuana_n_5092773.html

[Peeperkorn]

Uruguay will have salves, pills and oil made from canabbis


After recreational marijuana general decree , mid-year will be another special to regulate medical marijuana. There are already interested in investing in Uruguay .

Deputy secretary of the Presidency, Diego Canepa, announced that in addition to this general decree on marijuana , will be other specific decree to regulate the production , sale and consumption of medicinal marijuana.

Cánepa also said that there are companies interested in investing in Uruguay for production, for example, pills , salves and oils from cannabis.

Based on this framework , with the participation of foreign experts ended Thursday update the international forum on medical and therapeutic uses cannabis. The professor Laura Dominguez , University of the Republic , said in a medicinal Uruguay " safety and quality " cannabis may . Depending canabbis medicinal composition can be used in individuals with cancer, epilepsy , analgesic , or immunosuppressive , among other uses.