After Uruguay first moved to legalize marijuana in 2013, the approach has taken root in Latin America with several other nations in the region considering a revamp of their own drug laws.
“Someone has to start in South America,” Uruguayan President Jose Mujica said in late 2013 as he unveiled plans to make cannabis legal.
Under Mujica, Uruguay became the first country in the world to fully legalize marijuana — all the way from the cannabis field to personal use — setting up a regulated market for cultivation, sales and use.
Though marijuana is not yet sold in pharmacies, Uruguay’s National Drug Council has already seen 1,300 of the country’s 3.3 million inhabitants register as self-producers. There are also six clubs of up to 45 consumers.
“Because Uruguay did it and has not yet suffered any massive negative consequence, either in terms of international relations, foreign policy, sanctions or domestic political repudiation, it’s become an option for other countries to consider,” Washington Office on Latin America drug policy coordinator John Walsh said.
“Uruguay has inspired many countries to at least take a few steps in that direction,” Transnational Institute Amsterdam-based researcher Pien Metaal said. “It is not possible to go back. The genie came out of the bottle and there is no way to get him back inside.”
In October last year, Chile became the first nation in the region to allow the growth of cannabis for therapeutic uses, though the drug is still officially regarded as a narcotic.
A bill under consideration seeks to decriminalize growing cannabis for personal uses.
The Colombian parliament is debating a bill that would allow medical use of the drug, which has the support of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos.
Argentine Secretary-General to the Presidency Anibal Fernandez backs a bill that seeks to decriminalize marijuana cultivation for personal use, but the government overall is still opposed to the proposal.
In several nations in the region, marijuana possession for personal use is no longer subject to criminal penalties.
“Legalizing drugs is not on the agenda right now,” Brazilian Minister of Justice Jose Eduardo Cardozo said recently, despite a raft of bills seeking to do just that.
Costa Rica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and Venezuela share similar positions.
However, there is also a chorus defending legalization, with support from former Brazilian president Fernando Henrique Cardoso and former Mexican president Vicente Fox.
Calls for a new approach are rising in the region, the world’s biggest producer of cocaine and long in the grips of violence linked to drug trafficking.
The repressive approach has “failed,” Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said, while Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa described it is a “complete failure.”
With the support of Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico — all facing a bloody drug-related wave of violence — the UN is set to hold a special session on drug policy next year.
However, while marijuana legalization is taking place in the US through public pressure, change is more gradual in its southern neighbors.
“There is public skepticism in Latin America, where the public may not be pleased with their drug war, but also tend to associate the idea of legalization as permissive or surrendering,” Walsh said.
Even Uruguay’s marijuana law faces an uncertain future, as it is opposed by Uruguayan President-elect Tabare Vazquez.
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