Uruguay to set up state marijuana monopoly

[Judi Lynn]

Uruguay to set up state marijuana monopoly
Published on the 02 September 2013
by LEONARDO HABERKORNB

URUGUAY’S president Jose Mujica is set to create the world’s first legal marijuana monopoly, making the government alone responsible for importing, producing, obtaining, storing, commercialising, and distributing a drug still illegal in most places around the world.

Final Senate approval of Uruguay’s new marijuana law is expected by late September, and the government plans to license growers, sellers and users as quickly as possible thereafter to protect them from criminal drug traffickers, ruling party Senator Lucia Topolansky, who is also Uruguay’s first lady, said.

President Mujica says Uruguay’s long experience at the centre of the nation’s alcohol business makes it more than capable of dealing with the marijuana market.

A state entity will license producers and control marijuana’s distribution and sale through the same local pharmacies that sell prescription medicines and toothpaste. Purchases by licensed users will be limited to 40 grams (1.4 ounces) a month. Marijuana-growing co-operatives will be encouraged, using government-approved seeds, and people registered with the state will be able to grow up to six plants at home for personal use, as long as they harvest no more than 480 grams a year.

More:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/world/uruguay-to-set-up-state-marijuana-monopoly-1-3070642

[Judi Lynn]

1. Uruguay government to import, sell marijuana

Uruguay government to import, sell marijuana
LEONARDO HABERKORN
Last updated 19:06 01/09/2013

The government of Uruguay makes Scotch whisky. It also makes and sells rum, vodka and cognac, and has done so for nearly a century. Many people consider this sideline of the state to be an historical accident - a wasteful and even eccentric contradiction.

But President Jose Mujica says Uruguay's long experience at the centre of the nation's liquor business makes it more than capable of dominating another substance: marijuana.

Final Senate approval of Uruguay's marijuana law is expected by late September, and the government plans to license growers, sellers and users as quickly as possible thereafter to protect them from criminal drug traffickers, ruling party Senator Lucia Topolansky, who is also Uruguay's first lady, told The Associated Press in an interview.

The law specifically creates a legal marijuana monopoly, making the government alone responsible for importing, producing, obtaining, storing, commercialising, and distributing a drug still considered illegal around the world.
A state entity will license producers and control marijuana's distribution and sale through the same neighborhood pharmacies that sell prescription medicines and toothpaste. Purchases by licensed users will be limited to 40 grams a month.

More:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/9113164/Uruguay-government-to-import-sell-marijuana