The New York Times: Uruguay será una "república marihuanera"

In an article, the prestigious New York newspaper noted that"to curb the trafficking of marijuana, Uruguay considered appropriating the business". Says that in the region grows the debate by policies focused on combating drug trafficking and not to the consumer

Agricultural production in this country includes rice, soy and wheat. Soon, however, the Government of José Mujica could "dirty your hands with a much more complicated (than traditional) harvest: of marijuana", indicates the The New York Times newspaper in a paper entitled "South America Sees Drug Path to Legalization" (in Spanish, entitled 'to curb trafficking in marijuana, Uruguay considered appropriating the business').

For the Rotary, the initiative is part of a "growing movement in this region to create alternatives to the U.S.-led war against drug trafficking".

The President of Uruguay included in the widespread security plan last month the decision to legalize the production of marijuana in a way "regulated and controlled", remember the Rotary. And, in addition, adds that "any Latin America leaders worried about the spread of drug-related violence are considering policies that until recently would have been inconcebiblis".

The journal points out that the only thing that is spoken in Uruguay is the impact that could have a formal market for what Ronald Reagan described as "probably the most dangerous drug in America".

"Is a profound change," she told the Rotary Sebastian Sabini, one of the legislators who are currently working in the controversial proposal revealed on 20 June by President José Mujica. "We want to separate the market: users of traffickers, the marijuana from other drugs as heroin".

The newspaper mentions that from Brazil and Argentina you think that the best way to help the police to "focus on traffickers and not users" is the decriminalization of all drugs. Also, points out that the President of Guatemala, Otto Pérez Molina, who he describes as "a former general, direct and firm", called to consider "such an approach". So did the leaders of Colombia, Mexico, Belize and other countries, "they also demand a broader discussion of punitive drug laws", adds the note.

"Uruguay has led the experimentation to another level," says the paper, which also reports that "UN officials say that no other country has seriously considered a legal establishment operated by the State on the marijuana or any other illegal substance prohibited by the United Nations.

The publication points out that realize it, "Uruguay will become the first marihuanera Republic in the world", joining Netherlands, that since 1976 released officially marijuana consumption, and to Portugal which repealed all criminal penalties for the use of the drug in 2001.

In Uruguay, "on the other hand, would be born a new industry managed by the State, created by Government bureaucrats, convinced that opposition to marijuana is simply obsolete", indicates the New York publication.

The newspaper says that despite everything, "the proposal of the President (Mujica) has been greeted with a flurry of opposition". Also emphasises that "political rivals, consumers of marijuana, and officials on security issues have expressed concern about how marijuana is managed and whether the legalization, or something close to it, would accelerate the aggravation of the problem of addiction and crime".

Last week, Mujica announced that if the majority of the Uruguayans did not understand the value of legalizingit would suspend the plan   while tuned details and got the support of the citizenry. "If 60 per cent do not understand the initiative, we are going to harness", said Uruguayan President once a survey revealed a wide rejection of the Government project.