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Thursday, August 01, 2013 3:27:58 PM
http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-uruguay-legalizing-marijuana-20130801,0,5888917.story
Some Excerpts:
BUENOS AIRES -- Uruguay appears likely to become the first Latin American country to legalize marijuana after its lower house of Congress approved a bill to regulate and sanction the consumption of pot.
Uruguay’s upper house, the Senate, still must pass the measure, but analysts believe the government-led majority favors the law and that it will be approved by October. President Jose Mujica is a strong proponent of the measure, though polls have shown a majority of Uruguayans oppose it.
The 50-46 vote in the capital, Montevideo, late Wednesday came as legalization or decriminalization of drugs increasingly is debated among Latin American leaders who see the U.S.-led war on drugs as a failure.
The law would also allow the formation of so-called marijuana clubs, with 15 to 45 members each, to grow the plants. Mujica has touted the law as a way of fighting illegal drug trafficking, which he has said has brought more violence to his nation.
“At the heart of the Uruguayan marijuana regulation bill is a focus on improving public health and public safety,” said Hannah Heltzer, of New York-based Drug Policy Alliance, a civil society group that favors new approaches to what it calls a “failed war on drugs.”
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