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posted by Blackmoore on Friday December 12 2014, @09:30PM   Printer-friendly
from the Uruguay-or-the-HighWay dept.

AlterNet reports

In a Sunday presidential run-off election in Uruguay, Frente Amplio (Broad Front) candidate Tabaré Vázquez beat opposition candidate Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou by 53.6 to 41.1 percent, a vote that had major implications for the future of Uruguay's historic marijuana regulation.

While Vázquez has promised to continue implementing marijuana regulation, National Party opposition candidate Lacalle Pou had said that if he were to become president, he would repeal major parts of the law, including government-regulated sales to adults--the most distinguishing feature of the Uruguayan initiative.

"Sunday's presidential election result safeguards Uruguay's historic marijuana legalization" said Hannah Hetzer, Policy Manager of the Americas at the Drug Policy Alliance. "The Uruguayan people determinedly chose the presidential candidate who will continue the country's progressive policies, including the roll out of the world's first national legally regulated marijuana market."

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Cannabis Becomes Legal in Canada 34 comments

Recreational cannabis is now legal in Canada... to a point. Here are some ground rules:

Adults of at least 18 years old will be allowed to carry and share up to 30 grams of legal marijuana in public, according to a bill that passed the Senate in June. They will also be allowed to cultivate up to four plants in their households and make products such as edibles for personal use.

[...] The supply of recreational marijuana could be limited, at least early on, in some stores. Officials in Nova Scotia and Manitoba said they won't have a large selection, at least not on the first day, CNN affiliate CBC News reported. [...] Marijuana will not be sold in the same location as alcohol or tobacco. Consumers are expected to purchase the drug from retailers regulated by provinces and territories or from federally licensed producers when those options are not available.

[...] Authorities will soon announce plans to pardon Canadians who have been convicted with possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana, CNN partner CTV reported. The production, distribution or sale of cannabis products will still be an offense for minors.

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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by xvan on Friday December 12 2014, @10:00PM

    by xvan (2416) on Friday December 12 2014, @10:00PM (#125609)
    Marijuana policy is probably not the reason of such vote difference.

    Government-regulated sales to adults is the actual progressive and innovative part of the law. To qualify you need to be a) a resident, b) listed under a consumers registry. That allows preemptive intervention from the government.
    The rest of the law just formalizes what's been a fact for more than 15 years in South America. ie, in Argentina pot is still illegal, but you'll see people smoking on the main plaza of Buenos Aires next to the police.

    BTW, it's PAU, not Pau.
    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by frojack on Saturday December 13 2014, @12:09AM

      by frojack (1554) on Saturday December 13 2014, @12:09AM (#125645) Journal

      To qualify you need to be a) a resident, b) listed under a consumers registry. That allows preemptive intervention from the government.

      That lends a whole new meaning to the term "progressive", although its something that I've come to expect from "progressives".

      In Washington and Colorado, you just have to be of legal age.

      --
      No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Ellis D. Tripp on Saturday December 13 2014, @12:17AM

        by Ellis D. Tripp (3416) on Saturday December 13 2014, @12:17AM (#125651)

        Sounds like something conservatives would try to implement here as a "bipartisan compromise on drug policy". You know, a way to track the pot users, so they can be denied jobs, security clearances, medical care, public assistance, etc. despite pot itself being legal.

        --
        "Society is like stew. If you don't keep it stirred up, you end up with a lot of scum on the top!"--Edward Abbey
        • (Score: 2, Insightful) by anubi on Saturday December 13 2014, @02:05AM

          by anubi (2828) on Saturday December 13 2014, @02:05AM (#125672) Journal

          Making pot illegal does little more than fund a black market, enriching a lot of people to buy the hardware they need to defend themselves against those who try to enforce the law, and generally destroying respect for all law.

          Didn't we learn that by empirical methods (prohibition) almost 100 years ago?

          Pot laws, like Prohibition laws, have a lot of nasty unintended consequences.

          If someone is dead set to do something, you aren't going to stop it by wagging a pen on paper. The deed will be done behind your back. Its kinda futile to pass that kind of law in the first place. It just makes criminals out of a lot of people who were otherwise contributing members of society, and enriches those who will take the risks of breaking that law. It would have been better all around if that law had never been penned in the first place.

          The only alcohol laws I have much respect for is the ones restricting driving under the influence and manufacture of alcohol for sale, as I am quite aware of the economic savings that can be made at the expense of producing a poisonous product.

          My own suspicion is the powers that be consider pot a major problem because its so easy to grow your own if you are so inclined, and they haven't figured out a way to exact a payment out of you for doing it.

          --
          "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
          • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 13 2014, @04:30AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 13 2014, @04:30AM (#125695)

            When you make something illegal, you lose all control of that market.
            Ask a teenager: "Which is easier to get, weed or booze?"
            "Weed, dude; they ask for ID for booze."

            -- gewg_
            I just heard "Mr. Santa" by a group called Chaise Lounge.
            It's to the tune of "Mr. Sandman".
            Lots of fun. Really put me in the holiday spirit.