Despite fears that a young, conservative faction could have taken ahold of the government and ended the program prematurely, Uruguay has elected a liberal president and secured the safety of the program – for now.
Former Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez was re-elected on Sunday with a 52.8 percent vote to serve a five-year term.
Soft spoken leftist Uruguayan President Jose Mujica’s dream of legalizing cannabis to curb violence and drug problems in his country may be on the outs along with his role as the country’s leader.
Uruguayans 18 and up can now grow up to six female plants at a time with a total annual harvest of 480 grams, or just over a pound so long as they tell the government they are doing so first.
According to reports, there weren’t too many people signing up on the first day. Likely because, you know, telling the government you’re growing something they formerly considered a crime isn’t exactly an easy thing to do. Or maybe it’s in protest, because you shouldn’t have to register to grow your own herb.
Starting today, new rules go into effect in Uruguay regulating the legal sales of cannabis to adults. But don’t go planning your vacation there yet, stoners. It remains illegal for non-Uruguayans to purchase or consume cannabis.
And even for those Uruguayans who want purchase, grow and use it are going to face some stiff regulations.
| A still from Vice’s interview with José Mujica. |
Marijuana use, cultivation and sales of limited amounts is now legal in Uruguay, though the country is still working out the kinks on just how it will be grown. Uruguayan President José Mujica, 78, has made it clear that he’s never tried marijuana and that he doesn’t intend to do so, but he thinks is insane to continue arresting people for the plant.
It’s a big story: a country legalizing a plant that is illegal pretty much everywhere else around the world. So Vice Magazine sent reporter Krishna Andavolu down there to investigate and interview Mujica — where he promptly lit up a doobie in the nation’s leader’s garden.
While hundreds if not thousands of people are in jail over (increasingly bunk) medical cannabis charges up here in the states, Uruguay is legalizing medical cannabis use for prisoners who have a doctor’s recommendation.
Want to smoke Canadian weed? Head to Uruguay. Or, at least that will be the case if a proposed deal to re-up Uruguay’s soon-to-be-legal supply with B.C. buds goes through. But Uruguayans looking to get down on some God Bud probably shouldn’t hold their hits in too long, as the deal would likely violate a bucketful of international drug treaty violations.
Still, you can’t fault a nation for trying.
The Uruguayan military has no doubt been involved in at least a few anti-marijuana operations in their history, which makes the choice to possibly grow marijuana on military land pretty awesome.
With marijuana still sitting unjustly on Schedule I of the controlled substances list here in the U.S., official in-depth studies on the specific effects that differing strains of weed can elicit have been limited, both in number and in scope.
Fortunately, the South American nation of Uruguay has recently legalized marijuana use on a national level, opening the door for a very willing and eager community of scientists and researchers to set up shop and begin to give ganja a long overdue honest lab-grade analysis.
Uruguayan President Jose Mujica signed a bill legalizing limited amounts of cannabis in that country Monday night, finally making the law official in the country after weeks of international attention.
The signing went into effect with little or no fanfare or ceremony. In fact, it was the president’s secretary, Diego Canepa who quietly made the announcement on Tuesday morning to international press.