On the night of July 31st, the lower house of Uruguay’s legislature passed a bill that would legalize the production, distribution and sale of cannabis. It is expected to pass the Uruguayan senate in a few months and be approved by the country’s president, José Mujica. This will make the small Latin American country the first in the world to boast a completely legitimate, regulated pot industry. Needless to say, the Uruguayan government has just opened a Pandora’s Box of thorny legal and moral considerations smack in the middle of Latin America – the region of the world possibly most affected by illicit drug trafficking. The bill has taken many countries by surprise and quickly racked up dedicated supporters and vehement detractors, locally and internationally. For a growing, multinational drug legalization lobby, however, Uruguay’s move is a significant step towards a more intelligent and responsible approach to drug control, sorely needed by the U.S. and Latin America. In light of the expanding chorus of its own voices calling for an end to destructive and ineffective prohibition strategies, the United States would do well to heed the lessons from Uruguay’s march towards legalization.
For an international trailblazer, this country of 3.3 million is rather small and nondescript. Uruguay largely avoided the recent economic crises that have plagued some of its larger neighbors; the nation boasts a well-functioning economy, an admirably transparent government, and one of the region’s highest GDPs-per-capita. In the last couple of years, the left wing Broad Front coalition government has shown a remarkable tendency towards social policies that would have been anathema to many of its conservative neighbors. Under Mujica’s presidency, Uruguay has achieved legal abortion and gay marriage rights, and many see the current marijuana bill as an expected culmination of the policy hat trick. In reality, this goes beyond a left wing government’s desire for ideological consistency, and speaks more to several longer-running efforts to shift Uruguay away from the prohibitionist approach of Drug War politics. In fact, personal pot consumption has been legal since 1974, when the country was run by a military dictatorship. Due to the country’s existing culture of cannabis use, the current initiative is not so much a liberalizing measure as an anticrime one, born from a desire to weaken the drug trafficking rings that illegally sell pot to legal users. President Mujica himself is adamantly in favor of the bill, believing that it will also decrease the consumption of harder drugs (like the region’s infamous paco, or cocaine paste) by distancing pot consumers from the criminal gangs who sell them.
By now you might be wondering: How would full marijuana legalization work? Somewhat like recent laws in the states of Colorado and Washington, with the addition of a little Uruguayan inventiveness, the bill provides for several legal channels of marijuana production and distribution. Firstly, the state would create a National Institute of Cannabis (imagine that on a business card), which would invest profits from pot sales in crime prevention and anti-addiction programs, as well as regulate the industry and provide licenses for growers. Licensed adults could grow up to 6 plants for private consumption, or join cooperatives, or “clubs,” that could grow up to 99 plants. The state would also purchase marijuana from licensed wholesale growers and distribute it to pharmacies, where personal purchases would be capped at 40 grams per month (enough for 80 joints, apparently). Driving under the influence and all forms of advertising would be prohibited. Don’t get too excited about possible spring break travel plans through, as only Uruguayan nationals would be allowed to purchase the drug. Overall, the bill intends to create a safe market climate that would guarantee citizens’ security, weaken the narcos, and discourage drug tourism while implementing measures to expand health education and avoid increased pot use.
The Broad Front’s plan has predictably attracted a lot of negative international feedback, but in President Mujica’s own words, “Someone has to be the first to try this.” The benefits of risk-taking could be quite fruitful, since the new industry would channel some of the $750 million that Uruguayans already spend on marijuana towards government coffers. There are several other positive aspects to the project as well. For example, the bill provides the first cohesive answer to the call made by Organization of American States Secretary-General José Miguel Insulza in an OAS summit last year to consider new drug control tactics beyond the traditional interdiction strategy. Insulza’s plan creates a model that could be emulated in the future by more of the countries ravaged by drug violence throughout the region. To those that doubt Uruguay’s capacity to handle the issue, Mujica has pointed out that experiments like this are often best undertaken by smaller nations like Uruguay and Portugal (where the government decriminalized all drugs), which can serve as fertile testing grounds for innovative measures before more populous nations step into the fray.
So what’s the catch? Well, for starters, the lower house’s decision to pass the bill was not a very democratic one. In a recent Cifra poll, 64% of Uruguayans stood against legalizing pot production and distribution. Among them were 53% of the Broad Front’s voter base. President Mujica and his party have countered the naysayers by claiming that the lack of popular support stems from misconceptions: many see the legalization bill as a government sponsored plan to increase pot use. While misinformation might have a lot to do with the results, the question remains as to whether the administration was justified in using its legislative stranglehold to pass an unpopular measure. The opposition is understandably irked, and has supplemented its main criticism – that the law will increase the use of a gateway drug and raise health concerns – with some other claims. One of these is that the entire initiative is a publicity stunt for the internationally popular Mujica. Many say that his party is too eager to turn the country into a guinea pig for foreign pro-drug NGO’s, thus distracting the population from other, more pressing concerns. Critics within the Broad Front argued that the people should decide on the law through a referendum, a decision that party refused to take.
Another problem, identified by Senator Bordaberry of the opposition, lies in the law’s potential implementation. Many Uruguayans simply don’t think their government is capable of enforcing its own proposed measures. For instance, how would the 6-plant-per-household rule be monitored? What harmful side effects could arise from turning the state into a pot dispensary? How efficient would prohibitions for minors be? Despite the country’s positive economic and transparency rating, it is true that the region doesn’t boast the most effective governments.
While it contains possible pitfalls, Uruguay’s bill sends a message to the US and the rest of the Americas that it will not wait for approval to launch domestic reforms. Mujica may be the first president to sponsor a legalization bill, but three past presidents of other Latin American countries – Colombia, Mexico and Brazil – have already expressed support for cannabis legalization, with past Mexican president Vicente Fox (a conservative), even saying that “I would produce marijuana if it was legal.” Americans must recognize the paradigm shift in the marijuana debate, and take steps to catch the wave.
Encouragingly, while President Obama has explicitly stated that his administration will not support drug legalization, the federal government has yet to intervene in Colorado and Washington, prompting many to infer that the states will lead on this issue. In any case, recent polls show that half of Americans now support legalizing marijuana. As more states propose new laws, it is important to remember legalization’s social goals along with its promise of jobs and tax revenue. Initiatives must stress the importance of public health and safety, and hit the illegal dealers where it hurts – their wallets. Marijuana sales in Uruguay are expected to be set at a low fixed price of $2.50 per gram. Colorado, Washington and those who follow their lead should worry less about potential tax income and implement similar price controls if they don’t want to foster competition from trafficking gangs.
Eventually, support from nations larger than Uruguay will be needed to overturn the current legalization taboo, promoted by organizations such as the U.N. International Narcotics Control Board. Continents as a whole will have to alter their drug control measures in order to effectively combat the multinational threat of the narcos. Regardless, even if Uruguay’s Senate does not pass the bill, Muijca and his Broad Front coalition have provided a much-needed spark to shake the hemisphere out of its prohibitionist obstinacy. It now falls not just on Uruguayan senators, but sensible policy advocates worldwide, to keep up the pressure.