Pubdate: Sun, 04 Aug 2013
Source: Observer, The (UK)
Copyright: 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited
Contact:  http://www.observer.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/315
Author: Uki Goni
Page: 2

EXCITEMENT, BUT ANXIETY TOO, AS URUGUAY SETS LIBERAL PATH WITH NEW
CANNABIS LAW

In the First Country Set to Legalise the Sale and Production of
Marijuana, Opinion Is Divided on the Merits of the Pioneering Drug
Experiment

The "weed brothers" have been turning away potential pot-buying
customers from their tiny shop in downtown Montevideo quite a lot
recently. "They come about three times a day to ask if we're selling
marijuana yet," say Juan and Enrique Tubino. They've had to put up a
sign stating: "We don't sell marijuana."

It's not just because the Tubino brothers keep their shop packed high
with cannabis pipes, herb grinders and rolling paper  or because of
the giant green hookah in the display window  that would-be customers
are pouring in. The big excitement is because tiny Uruguay, a country
so small that a single dialling code covers the whole territory, is
about to become the first in the world to legalise the production and
sale of marijuana. The Tubinos are hoping that their Yuyo Brothers
shop ( yuyo is Spanish for weed) can capitalise on its fame among
Montevideo cannabis users to sell legally what goes into the pipes.

"When people think of liberal drug laws, they tend to think of
Holland, but actually it's Uruguay that has always been at the
forefront," says Hannah Hetzer, a young dual-nationality
Austrian-American from the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) who landed in
Uruguay in February to help local drug reform activists. The DPA is a
weighty US drug policy reform NGO that can boast tycoons such as
George Soros and Richard Branson and celebrities including Sting on
its board of directors. "Uruguay never banned private consumption of
any drug at all, including hard drugs such as heroin, even though
their production and sale is banned," says Hetzer.

When Jose Mujica, Uruguay's president, put his considerable political
weight behind drug law reform in this small but ultra-liberal South
American state, the DPA sent Hetzer to Montevideo to guide money from
Soros's Open Society Foundations into an unprecedented media campaign
that helped to push the groundbreaking legal changes through the lower
house of congress. Approval by the senate, where Mujica holds a strong
majority, is expected soon.

Other Latin American countries, such as Colombia and Bolivia,
emboldened by Uruguay's move and frustrated over their own failure to
beat the powerful and bloody illegal cartels that control drug
production in the region, will be looking carefully at how the reform
fares.

The law will grant licences to private producers for large-scale
cannabis farming and regulate the distribution of marijuana at
controlled prices through pharmacies to registered consumers, all
under the strict eye of the government. It will also allow home
growing of up to six plants per household, and the creation of
"cannabis clubs" in which home growers will be able to band together
to produce marijuana in greater quantities as long as it is not for
sale.

This is music to the ears of 27-yearold Enrique Tubino, the youngest
of the two "weed brothers", who has been growing cannabis illegally at
home for years. "Now we'll be able to grow our weed in peace without
having to hide. That's going to be a big change, in our heads, in the
concept, on the street. There's going to be many colourful balconies
now," he laughs.

Marijuana consumption seems to be high in Uruguay, especially among
young people. "Surveys show that about 4.5% of the population smokes
marijuana on a more or less regular basis," says Sebastian Sabini, the
32-year-old bearded and sneaker-wearing congressman who drafted the
new law. "I've never seen people smoking on the street as much as they
do here," says Hetzer. "It seems more widespread than anywhere else."

That and a long liberal tradition regarding matters such as a strict
separation of church and state helped to ease the passage of the new
law. When Argentina's Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio became Pope Francis in
February, Mujica decided not to fly to Rome for his
inauguration.

"Uruguay is a totally lay country," explained Mujica at the time.
"There is separation of church and state since the last century.
Uruguay is different from the rest of Latin America regarding this. We
have great respect, there is freedom of worship, but we are not believers."

Although approval for the reform is low, both critics and supporters
agree that opposition is not virulent. "Someone scrawled 'Sabini is a
junkie' on a city wall," says Sabini. But that is meek protest even
for distinctly civil Uruguay, where political opponents seldom quarrel
too loudly. With a population of only 3.3 million, it is hard for
politicians and activists not to know personally those on the other
side of the ideological fence.

Even though support for the reform is low among the population at
large, there is no strong vocal opposition so far. "Polls placed those
against the law at about 66% at the start of this year," says Hetzer.
"And even after our intense media campaign, that only dropped by about
three points, but it is not an issue that could sway an election. It
is not an important issue, even for those against it."

Opponents of the law disagree with technical aspects, but not the
essence. "Smoking marijuana is legal in Uruguay, you can't be arrested
for smoking on the street; you could smoke here in front of the
building of congress without any problem, even before this law," says
Javier Garcia, a congressman who voted against the change. "I'm a
doctor and I don't agree with the law for medical reasons. I don't
believe that marijuana is not a stepping stone to harder drugs such as
cocaine, as its proponents allege. I feel we just don't have enough
scientific research yet to back this law; there's no international
precedent. It raises the risk of drug tourism and consumption is
already legal, so what's the basis for it? Not individual freedom,
because private consumption is already guaranteed."

Supporters and critics of the reform both see the ghost of American
"imperialism" behind legalisation, on the one hand, and the war
against drugs on the other. Sabini sees US support for the war on
drugs in Latin America as a tool for dominance over weak nations. "The
US provides the arms and we provide the dead," he says.

But Garcia sees instead a new brand of "US imperialism" behind
powerful NGOs such as the Drug Policy Alliance pumping dollars into
Uruguay to support the new law. "They are using us as a testing ground
for reforms that they wouldn't dare test at home. They're treating us
like guinea pigs."

Hetzer sees it differently. "Uruguay is the perfect country to do
this; it's small, it's got good institutions, very little corruption,"
she says. "And this drug law reform follows in the same year that
Uruguay legalised abortion and same-sex marriage. It's part of a
broader trend towards a more liberal society that's taking place; it's
not just a single issue."

Despite the consensus, some aspects of the law remain contested. Small
entrepreneurs such as the Tubino brothers are unhappy about only
pharmacies so far being allowed to sell marijuana.

"That's giving too much power to the multinationals or anyone with big
money, as they would be the only ones who could finance such a
distribution system," says Enrique Tubino. "There's a rumour that
tobacco companies are studying this, which would be the worst. Can you
imagine? The Green Marlboro!"

But Sabini defends the decision to grant pharmacies a marijuana
monopoly.

"Pharmacies have more experience selling drugs for medicinal use," he
says. "They have nationwide reach, they have trained personnel,
security precautions in place for handling important sums of money and
a data system for prescriptions that can be adapted to the sale of
marijuana only to registered users."

The Tubino brothers are not convinced. "We've been having offers from
investors from Spain and Holland. Those are big tigers," says Juan
Tubino.

"We'd like the government to set up some protectionism to defend us
Uruguayans against that. But if it doesn't, we'll just have to grow
tough nails and fight against the tigers, too."
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