Post date: Jun 21, 2012 7:36:55 PM
MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY (JUNE 20, 2012) (MONTECARLO TELEVISION) - Uruguay's government unveiled a proposal on Wednesday (June 20) to legalize and monitor the marijuana market, arguing that the drug is less harmful than the black market where it is trafficked.
Uruguay drafts bill that would legalize production and sale marijuana in South American country where consumption is already legal.
President Jose Mujica's leftist government will send a bill to Congress shortly on this as part of a package of measures to fight crime in the South American country.
The government will also urge that marijuana sales be legalized world-wide, Defence Minister Eleuterio Fernandez Huidobro (we-DOH-broh) said, adding the measure could discourage the use of so-called hard drugs.
"Because of the terrible things that are happening as a result of prohibition -- which, anyway, hasn't achieved absolutely anything in terms of reduction -- it seems there no other remedy than this course," Huidobro said.
Marijuana consumption is already legal in Uruguay.
"We are taking on this issue not only from the point of view of supply, but from point of view of demand which has been investigated very little here and other places in the world. For there to be trafficking, there must be supply and demand. Both are necessary, like in tango and other things," the minister told a news conference.
The bill would legalize and set rules for the production and sale of marijuana but would not allow people to grow the plant for their own personal use. The government did not give details on how the new system would work.
In Uruguay about $75 million changes hands each year in the illegal marijuana trade, according to official estimates.
"Traffickers exist because of a wide range of consumers who will pay unreal prices. We are talking about the case of marijuana, which brings $75 million a year in the local market, and that doesn't include commissions for drugs leaving (Uruguay and heading) to other countries because we are a logistical nation. It also doesn't include financial services to launder money, obviously, where they charge 30 percent, and all this money inevitably goes to banks. It doesn't have any place else to go," the defence minister added.
As of last year, 20 percent of people between 15 and 65 years old reported they had smoked marijuana at least once and about 5 percent of respondents were habitual users.
The proposal to legalize the marijuana market is one of 15 crime-fighting measures that include tougher penalties for police corruption, crack-cocaine trafficking and juvenile offenders.