Search Results: uruguay (45)

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Front Page New York Times Article Describes Uruguay Government’s Proposal to Legalize and Sell Marijuana – Joining Argentina, Colombia, Guatemala, Belize and Others in Proposing Drug War Alternatives 
Ethan Nadelmann, DPA Executive Director: The Genie Has Escaped the Drug Prohibition Bottle
One by one, the dominoes are starting to sway.
Monday morning, the front page of The New York Times featured an article titled “South America Sees Drug Path to Legalization,” which discusses the growing debate on alternatives to the Drug War. Throughout Latin America, both former and current heads of state are demanding that the full range of policy options be expanded to include alternatives that help to reduce the prohibition-related crime violence and corruption in their own countries – and insisting that decriminalization and legal regulation of currently illicit drug markets be considered.

Nick Miroff / The Washington Post
A sign greets visitors to Caye Caulker, Belize, with a warning: Though marijuana and cocaine are readily available to tourists, drugs are illegal in Belize

Belize Announcement on Heels of Uruguayan President’s Proposal to Legalize and Sell Marijuana
DPA Executive Director Ethan Nadelmann: Alternatives to Prohibition Growing Trend in Latin America and Caribbean 
The government of Belize released a press statement on Monday announcing the appointment of a committee to evaluate a proposal to decriminalize marijuana possession. The committee – to be headed by a former police minister – was appointed by the Minister of National Security.
The proposal seeks to remove criminal penalties for possession of up to 10 grams of marijuana and instead impose fines and mandatory drug education. Currently, possession of less than 60 grams of marijuana is punishable by a fine of up to US $26,000 and/or up to three years in prison.

StoptheDrugWar.org
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has called for a new direction in drug policy

Colombia Part of Growing Trend in Latin America; Last Week President of Uruguay Called for Legal Regulation of Marijuana
 
Colombia’s Constitutional Court on Friday approved the government’s proposal to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of cocaine and marijuana for personal use. Anyone caught with less than 20 grams of marijuana or one gram of cocaine for personal use may receive physical or psychological treatment depending on their “state of consumption,” but may not be prosecuted or detained, the court ruled.
Colombia, famed in the 1970s for the “Colombian Redbud” and “Santa Marta Gold” marijuana that flooded the U.S., is part of a growing trend in Latin America.
Last week, the government of Uruguay announced that it will submit a proposal to legalize marijuana under government-controlled regulation and sale, making it the first country in the world where the state would sell marijuana directly to its citizens. The proposal was drafted by Uruguayan President José Mujica and his staff and requires parliamentary approval before being enacted. 

The Coming Crisis

President Obama to Attend Summit of the Americas in Colombia This Weekend: Discussions to Include Drug Decriminalization, Legal Regulation and Other Drug War Alternatives
 
First Time Ever that Sitting Presidents are Calling for All Options to Be Put on Table to Reduce Drug Prohibition-Related Crime, Violence and Corruption
  
This week, President Obama will join more than 30 other heads of state from throughout the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia for the Summit of the Americas. For the first time ever, a major focus of the summit – both in official meetings and behind closed doors – will be the need for alternative strategies to the failed war on drugs.
 
The urgency of the discussion is growing in light of the prohibition-related violence in Mexico that has killed more than 50,000 people since 2006, the growing war zones in Central America, and South American governments worn down by decades of disastrous U.S.-sponsored eradication and interdiction efforts that have bred institutionalized corruption and routine violence.

Charles Fox/Philadelphia Inquirer
Vice President Joe Biden will get an earful from Latin American presidents who are weary of the failed War On Drugs

​Vice President Joe Biden is heading to Mexico and Honduras on Sunday in the midst of rapidly escalating demands by Latin American leaders that legalization should be included among the options for reducing drug-related violence, crime and mayhem.

The presidents of Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia and Mexico, all struggling to stem the violence associated with a failing Drug War, have said in recent weeks they’d like to have a discussion on legalizing drugs, reports Martha Mendoza of The Associated Press.
Meanwhile, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, and Peru already allow the possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use, and the leaders of Brazil and Colombia are discussing alternatives to jailing drug users.
“U.S. government officials are worried because the smartest among them know that the current strategy, both domestically and internationally, cannot be defended on economic, scientific or ethical grounds,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA).
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