Uruguay is one of the smallest countries in South America, but it could make a big impact on the world stage because of President José Mujica plan's to make the production, sale and consumption of marijuana legal.
If the marijuana legalization proposal becomes a law, Uruguay will be the first country to legalize the cannabis commercialization, a move other countries will no doubt watch and maybe follow.
"It is not like 'viva la pepa' (let the good times roll) and let's smoke freely and we go to the seaside boardwalk, no, no, no," said president José Mujica after his meeting with billionaire and philanthropist George Soros last week, who supports the legislation and has offered funding to evaluate the impact of the law.
Mujica, an ex guerrilla fighter, and Hungarian-American magnate George Soros, believe that legalizing the drug would be a strike against drug trafficking, a better way to control drug consumption and an opportunity to help those who suffer any drug disorder or addiction.
There is one thing I completely agree with Mujica and Soros on: the strategies every other government in the world are using to combat drug trafficking are not working. Is there anyone in this planet that knows how to solve this problem? So far, nobody. So President Mujica may be thinking: "why not take the risk and embrace the possibility of becoming the first marijuana hero and the man who thwarted drug dealers?"
As the adage goes, no risk, no gain.
But while people around the world have called on their leaders to legalize marijuana, especially for medical uses, it's been interesting to watch how Uruguayans have reacted now that there's a real proposal on the table. The majority of the Uruguayan population opposes the measure.
Mary Pérez, an Uruguayan who resides in Montevideo, put it this way:
It is irresponsible of the president to give such importance to the legalization of marijuana when it is not even safe to walk in the streets in Uruguay because the kids are using cocaine based drugs like 'pasta base'.
According to recent polls, 63% of Uruguayans opposed the bill while only 26% approved it. Compare that to the recent government vote. The bill passed by the Chamber of Deputies 50-46 and is expected to be ratified by the senate and signed by the president before the end of the year.
"Someone has to be the first", said Mujica, who has said he never smoked marijuana.
Uruguay, with a population of 3.4 million, seems to be the best world laboratory rat for this experiment.
"Sometimes small countries do great things," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the US Drug Policy Alliance, on Fox News.
While I applaud the bravery of Mujica and his ruling party, Frente Amplio, to move forward with the world's most liberal bill, even against public opinion opinion, I am afraid the Uruguayan president is putting himself and his citizens in dangerous waters.
One of the biggest concerns is a possible increase of marijuana users. Anyone older than 18 could register and get 40 grams of marijuana from licensed pharmacies and households may cultivate up to six plants of cannabis and harvest up to 480 grams of pot per year for the family personal use. Controlling marijuana growth at people's homes seems like an impossible mission for any government.
The "membership clubs", licensed by the government, would consist of 15 to 45 people, who can grow up to 99 marijuana plants to sell through the pharmacies.
In the US, Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize the cannabis production and distribution last year.
Guatemala, México, and even Colombia are calling for major global drug policy reform, which has been a significant focus last week at the United Nations General Assembly. President Mujica said he was proud of Uruguay and emphasized that this innovative regulation may be a model many other countries may follow.
"It is not about liberalization, it is about regulating and bringing an existing market out of the shadows of illegality", said Jorge Rodríguez, an Uruguayan who lives in Brooklyn. "If you are a law abiding citizen who wants to smoke a joint, you now don't have to deal with criminal elements to obtain it."
No doubt that Uruguay would be at the vanguard of drug policies, but only time will tell if it was worth it to take the risk.
