Calling it an anti-crime measure, Uruguayan President Jose Mujica wants his country to legalize marijuana.
The government would be the sole producers and distributors of pot in Uruguay.
Mujica argues the traditional approach of interdiction hasn’t worked, that increasing drug violence has become a serious concern and that marijuana is less harmful than the black market to his country.
Under Uruguay’s proposed law, people will only be able to purchase marijuana through state-run agencies, which Mujica says would oversee the quality and quantity.
The law, which must still pass the Congress, would see the government selling controlled amounts of marijuana — reportedly about 40 cigarettes — to citizens who are 18 years of age or older, thereby depriving criminal gangs of their profits.
Taxes from the sale of pot would be used to fund rehabilitation centres.
Mujica also feels if users have legal access to marijuana, they will stay away from hard drugs like cocaine.
Of course, those opposed to the legalization of marijuana will argue it’s a gateway drug that leads to harder drugs such as cocaine.
But there is as much evidence that this is not the case, that many people who move on to hard drugs would do so without pot use. They are just wired that way.
Clearly the 40-year-old “War on Drugs” has been a failure; a view shared by many countries, such as Mexico, Columbia and Guatemala.
Columbian President Juan Manuel Santos says he is “not against legalization,” while Mexican president Felipe Calderon has spoken in a much more direct and harsher tone, stating if Americans are “determined and resigned to consuming drugs, they should seek market alternatives in order to cancel the stratospheric profits.” In his country, $15 billion a year is taken in by drug cartels through the sale of marijuana alone.
What would the financial benefits to legalizing marijuana in the U.S. be?
Although it’s difficult to accurately determine a precise amount, Jeffrey Miron, a Harvard economist and independent authority on the financial aspects of marijuana, estimates its legalization could produce $20 billion in tax revenue and law enforcement cost savings annually.
Opponents argue financial savings should not be the determining factor in the decision, nor the only criteria used.
But the attitudes of Americans are changing.
Five years ago, they opposed the idea of legalization by a ratio of 2:1.
But the most recent Gallup poll shows 50% are now in favour of legalizing pot while 46% are against.
The idea is no longer a radical one.
Pot has already been decriminalized in 11 U.S. states.
People see the hypocrisy of paying for the incarceration of ordinary citizens for possessing or selling marijuana, while organized crime thrives on its sale.
In Uruguay, Defence Minister Eleuterio Fernandez Huidobro said, “We think a ban on certain drugs is creating more problems in society than the drug itself.” President Mujica believes this type of experiment is best done by smaller countries, as a kind of small market test.
Whether Uruguay’s “experiment” works, or is accepted by other countries even if it does, remains to be seen.
But you have to give Mujica credit for at least trying to address the problem.
— Woloshyn hosts “Saturday with Ted” from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Newstalk 1010
