UN drugs watchdog says the move is illegal. Uruguay’s drug control chief, Julio Calzada, is a nervous man. As of Wednesday, he has just 120 days to deliver regulations controlling the world’s first national marijuana market.
The law awaiting the signature of President Jose Mujica after winning congressional approval Tuesday night describes what Calzada called an “experiment” in broad strokes. Now his ministry has to deliver the fine print to address the many unresolved questions raised in the Senate debate.
The government’s stated goal is to drive drug traffickers out of the dope business and gradually reduce consumption by creating a safe and transparent environment where the state can closely monitor every aspect of marijuana use, from seed to smoke.
To be successful, this market must be kept small, contained and profitable.
That means fixing just the right amount of active ingredient, THC, in seeds that can be cloned, identified and controlled. And with fewer than 200,000 habitual smokers in the country of 3.3 million, just 10 hectares of pot plants could supply the entire market.
CBC News – Dec 11, 2013.
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