URUGUAY. - As an attempt to combat the vast underground drug market, the Uruguayan government is proposing a bill to legalize the trading of marijuana. President Jose Mujica, with strong support from his administration, has proposed the bill on Wednesday and will be submitting it to congresses where it shall be voted on.
Defense Minister Eleuterio Fernandez Huidobro told Reuters, "We believe that the prohibition of certain drugs is creating more problems for society than the drugs themselves... with disastrous consequences...homicides related to settling scores have increased, and that's a clear sign that certain phenomena are appearing in Uruguay that didn't exist before."
The bill will place the production and sale of the drug in the hands of the government, who will be allowed to sell it to 'of age' civilians listed in its database. The bill will also grant certain shops to sell marijuana cigarettes. It will not allow people to cultivable the plant for their personal use.
Part of the reasoning behind this measure is to remove profits made by drug dealers and traffickers, in addition to preventing the more dangerous by products of theblack market such as murder, rape and weapon proliferation. According to BBC News the Uruguayan illegal marijuana market makes an estimated $75 million a year.
The bill is expectedly controversial; it raises the obvious questions of legalizing drug use, but also makes way for cronyism and corruption. Congress is expected to spend months debating the bill.
The proposed bill is one of 15 crime-combating steps adapted by the government. The measures also include tougher penalties for police corruption, crack-cocaine smuggling and juvenile offenders.
