PUERTO CACHICAMO, Colombia-The pandemic closed the only school in this remote hamlet, long a stronghold for Marxist guerrillas. With no internet connection for virtual classes, 16-year-old Danna Montilla told her family she was leaving to find work, but instead authorities say she joined a narco-trafficking rebel group. Last month, Colombia's military bombarded the group's jungle camp, killing Danna, another underage girl and 10 others. Residents here said her death underscored a grim reality: Armed gangs have found fresh recruits from an ample pool of youths who, like Danna, have been out of school because of the coronavirus pandemic. [continues 1200 words]
SHINAHOTA, Bolivia-During nearly 14 years as president, Evo Morales pampered the Chapare, the coca leaf-growing jungle region of central Bolivia where he got his start in politics. Mr. Morales expelled U.S. antidrug agents and promoted the health benefits of the coca leaf, the raw material for cocaine, which is legal and chewed by many indigenous people. His socialist government built a paper mill, an airport, and a 25,000-seat soccer stadium in the region. In turn, the farmers gave Mr. Morales, the head of a federation of coca growers, their fervent support. [continues 902 words]
YOKY RIDGE, Colombia-On a hilltop base shielded with sandbags, police sharpshooter Jose Diaz gazed into thick jungle as a fellow commando checked tripwires protecting the stronghold. A radioman listened in on the fighters they were battling. "They're always looking for the right moment to attack our base," said Hector Ocampo, commander of the Colombian detachment in a cocaine-trafficking corridor near Panama. Their adversaries weren't the FARC rebels that security forces had long fought, but a cocaine-trafficking gang known as the Gulf Clan. In the year since the powerful Marxist guerrillas disarmed, drug gangs like this one have battled each other and the state for control of the booming cocaine trade in remote regions where the FARC once ruled. [continues 872 words]
Buds of marijuana are shown before being placed into packets for sale at the San Francisco Medical Cannabis Clinic in San Francisco, Monday, Oct. 19, 2009. [Associated Press] A haul of marijuana, weighing 13,227.74 pounds (6,000 kg) had been stored in a warehouse in Pilar, northwest of Buenos Aries, for two years. When a new police commissioner took over for Javier Specia, he noticed 1,191 pounds missing from the warehouse. Specia told a judge that the missing marijuana was eaten by mice, according to BBC. But the judge doesn't quite believe that story. [continues 66 words]
The anti-narcotics police arrived here in the heart of Colombia's cocaine industry last month to destroy the coca crop. The community was determined to save it. Roughly 1,000 farmers, some armed with clubs, surrounded the hilltop camp that police had set up in a jungle clearing and began closing in on the officers. The police started shooting. When they were done, seven farmers were dead and 21 were wounded. "Several friends and neighbors died on the ground waiting for medical assistance," said Luis Gaitan, 32, who protected himself by hiding behind a tree stump. [continues 1571 words]
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) - The legal sale of marijuana in Uruguayan pharmacies is facing challenges as banks refuse to deal with companies linked to the drug in order to follow international financial laws. A government official said Friday that Uruguayan banks risk running afoul of laws that ban receiving money tied to the drug. The official was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. In July, marijuana went up for sale at 16 pharmacies as part of a 2013 law that made Uruguay first to legalize a pot market covering the entire chain from plants to purchase. [continues 249 words]
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay - The rules are a bit of a buzzkill. Drug users must officially register with the government. Machines will scan buyers' fingerprints at every purchase, and there are strict quotas to prevent overindulgence. But when Uruguay's marijuana legalization law takes full effect on Wednesday, getting high will take a simple visit to the pharmacy. As American states legalize marijuana and governments in the hemisphere rethink the fight against drugs, Uruguay is taking a significant step further: It is the first nation in the world to fully legalize the production and sale of marijuana for recreational use. [continues 1284 words]
LOS RIOS, Colombia - Every three months or so, Javier Tupaz, a father of six, heads downhill from his clapboard home to work in his cocaine laboratory. Under a black tent in the jungle, he shovels coca leaves into a giant vat with gasoline, then adds cement powder - the first steps in his cocaine recipe. Like everyone in his village, Mr. Tupaz depends on coca for cash and has survived decades of war here in Colombia. He churned out his product during the seemingly endless conflict between the rebels and the government, which tried many times to destroy his coca plants. He simply replanted. [continues 1457 words]
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay-Tiny Uruguay embarked on an ambitious social experiment Wednesday by becoming the first country to regulate and oversee the sale of marijuana, a policy that has enthralled pro-pot activists and smokers abroad but has lukewarm support at home. Under tight restrictions, the only establishments licensed to offer marijuana are pharmacies, 16 of which began to sell here in the capital. Pot connoisseurs lined up and then gushed about both buying marijuana legally and the product's quality. "It tastes great," said Daniel Souza, 48 years old, a hospital worker who lighted up in front of city hall. "This kind of weed is great for creativity. It will be good for my guitar playing." [continues 725 words]
CORINTO, Colombia - For years, Blanca Riveros has had the same routine: After fixing breakfast and taking her son to school, she heads home to a large plastic trash bag filled with marijuana. She trims the plants and gets them ready for Colombian drug traffickers. After school, her son helps cut more. The business was long overseen by the country's largest rebel group, which dominated this region, taxed its drugs and became internationally notorious for trafficking in billions of dollars in illicit substances. But when the government signed a peace deal with the fighters last year, the state swept in and reclaimed this remote mountain village, threatening to end the trade. [continues 1347 words]
RIO DE JANEIRO - Fans were lining up to watch an American beach volleyball duo square off against Mexico on the alluring sands of Copacabana Beach. But across town, far from the Olympic excitement, the crackling of gun battles echoed through the colossal favelas that envelop Rio de Janeiro's hillsides. As soon as he heard the bullets whizzing by early on Tuesday, Richard Conceicao Dias, 9, knew what to do. "I lied down on the floor, hugging my mom," said Richard, who lives in a one-room home in the sprawling Complexo do Alemao group of favelas with his mother and his three sisters. "She told me, 'Get away from the window, close your eyes, dream about something nice.'" [continues 1104 words]
RIONEGRO, Colombia - Like many drug barons in Colombia, Federico Cock-Correa wants to sell his product globally. Just 15 miles outside Medellin, Mr. Cock-Correa is looking to replace vast acres of flowers with marijuana plants, with plans to export the harvest. But unlike the brutal heroin and cocaine trade that once flourished nearby, his operation has the government's stamp of approval. Last year, President Juan Manuel Santos spearheaded an overhaul of Colombia's 30-year-old drug laws, which formally legalized medical marijuana for domestic use. Crucially, the new law also allowed the commercial cultivation, processing and export of medical marijuana products - like oils and creams - although not the flower, the part of the plant normally rolled into a joint. [continues 1003 words]
Montevideo (AP) - Uruguay is home to the world's first government-regulated national marketplace for pot, so it's not surprising that growers have a competition for best marijuana. At the Cannabis Cup in Montevideo over the weekend, a panel of regional experts judged entries for aroma, flavour, effects and strength before picking the winners of the best indoor and outdoor crops. Silver cups were awarded to the winners and all competitors received a jar with samples from others in the tournament. [continues 60 words]
Government No Longer Conducting Aerial Eradication Efforts With Glyphosate ESPINAL, Colombia (AP) - Explosives experts wearing heavy body armor light a fuse and take cover behind a concrete-reinforced trench. "Fire in the area!" a commando shouts before a deafening blast ricochets across the Andean foothills and sends a plume of brown smoke 100 feet high. Such drills have intensified for Colombia's military, one of the most battle-tested in the world, as it tries to control skyrocketing cocaine production that has fueled a half-century of war with leftist guerrillas. [continues 522 words]
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) - Rossana Rilla could sell marijuana under Uruguay's pioneering law that lets pharmacies distribute pot. But she says there is no way she will. In her 28 years as a pharmacist, she has been beaten, dragged across the floor and threatened by thieves at gunpoint and with a grenade. She fears that selling marijuana would only make her store a bigger target for robbers and burglars. "You see their faces and you can tell right away that they are not consumers who are here just to buy" marijuana, Rilla said about the "suspicious people" who have recently been coming into her Montevideo pharmacy asking if she sells pot. [continues 530 words]
Dear Editor, The use of marijuana for recreational purposes cannot be a "good" thing. That should not be a basis for its decriminalization or legalization. The issue is whether criminalization of the drug, given the enormous violence associated with the 'policing' by criminals of its supply, combined with the corruption facilitated by the sheer enormity of the profits arising therefrom, is or is not a greater societal evil than decriminalization or legalization. The evidence is overwhelming that criminalization produces the greater evil. Yours faithfully, Romain Pitt [end]
BOGOTA, Colombia - The streets of Colombia's largest open-air drug market look like a war zone following a police sweep through one of Bogota's most dangerous neighborhoods. More than 2,500 riot police officers and heavily armed soldiers participated in a raid that began Saturday in the capital's "Bronx" area, nicknamed for its comparison to the troubled New York neighborhood. New Mayor Enrique Penalosa decided to clamp down on the district in response to complaints of brazen drug consumption and crime in plain view and just blocks from the presidential palace. [continues 256 words]
With Peace at Hand, Coca Farmers and Traffickers Consider Their Futures If Their Cash Crop Is Eradicated LA GABARRA, Colombia - Daniel Duarte has thick, rough hands and the burned scalp of someone who has spent more than two decades under the sun tending coca crops. Toiling over a few acres in a remote northeastern part of Colombia, Duarte says the bright green shrub is the only plant that has allowed him to feed his family, even as neighbors go broke trying to get their bulky yucca and plantain crops to market. [continues 1073 words]
In Colombia, Peace Deal With the FARC in Sight But Herbicide-Resistant Coca Production on Rise In the lowlands surrounding the town of La Hormiga, coca was once king. Fields of the bright green bushes stretched to the horizon in every direction and farmers were flush with cash. The surrounding municipality was the one with the most coca crops in the country that produced the most cocaine in the world. This was "ground zero" for Plan Colombia, a massive multipronged effort funded by nearly $10bn in US aid that started in 2000. The plan aimed to recover a country that was in the grips of drug mafias, leftist guerrillas and rightwing militias, and whose institutions malfunctioned and economy faltered. [continues 1427 words]
Fight Breaks Out After Pair Who Were 'Like Brothers' Reportedly Took Psychedelic Drug Ayahuasca A spiritual retreat in Peru turned deadly when a 29-year-old Canadian allegedly stabbed a British man after the pair took a hallucinogenic brew. Local police allege Canadian Joshua Andrew Freeman Stevens killed Unais Gomes, 26, after Gomes attacked him with a knife Wednesday night. The incident occurred during a retreat near the city of Iquitos in the Peruvian jungle where the pair - who were reportedly "like brothers" - both ingested ayahuasca, a powerful psychedelic drug also known as "the vine of the soul." [continues 615 words]
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - Colombia's government plans to legalize the cultivation and sale of marijuana for medicinal and scientific purposes, officials said Thursday in a surprise shift by the longtime U.S. ally in the war on drugs. The change is coming in an executive decree that President Juan Manuel Santos will soon sign into law. It will regulate regulating everything from licensing for growers to the eventual export of products made from marijuana, Justice Minister Yesid Reyes said. With the new policy, Colombia joins countries from Mexico to Chile that have experimented with legalization or decriminalization as part of a wave of changing attitudes toward drug use and policies to combat it in Latin America. But unlike many of its neighbors, Colombia has long been identified with U.S.-backed policies to eradicate drug production and a sharp decline in levels of violence over the past 15 years is largely attributed to the no-tolerance policing. [continues 232 words]
Colombia plans to legalize the cultivation and sale of marijuana for medicinal and scientific purposes, government officials said in a surprise shift by the longtime U.S. ally in the war on drugs. The change comes in an executive decree that President Juan Manuel Santos will soon sign into law. With it, Colombia joins countries from Mexico to Chile that have experimented with legalization or decriminalization amid changing attitudes toward drug use and policies. [end]
Despite U.S. Efforts to Cut Off the Drug at the Source, Colombia Is Again the World's Top Coca Producer Tierradentro, Colombia - Illegal coca cultivation is surging in Colombia, erasing one of the showcase achievements of U.S. counternarcotics policy and threatening to send a burst of cheap cocaine through the smuggling pipeline to the United States. Just two years after it ceased to be the world's largest producer, falling behind Peru, Colombia now grows more illegal coca than Peru and third-place Bolivia combined. In 2014, the last year for which statistics are available, Colombians planted 44 percent more coca than in 2013, and U.S. drug agents say this year's crop is probably even larger. [continues 1487 words]
While the norm in most places nowadays is to run into a pharmacy and pick up some medication if one is feeling ill, the truth is that pharmacies, as we know them, have only been around for a couple hundred years. People, however, have been on planet Earth for thousands of years. What then did our ancestors use for medicine when they got sick? The answer, which many people have forgotten, is that many of the original medicines were plant-based. Humans, through trial and error, careful observation of the animals around them, and experimentation, learned over time which plants could heal and which could harm. This knowledge, obviously, was very valuable and carefully passed on from generation to generation. [continues 913 words]
BOGOTA, Colombia - The government of Colombia on Thursday night rejected a major tool in the American-backed antidrug campaign - ordering a halt to the aerial spraying of the country's vast illegal plantings of coca, the crop used to make cocaine, citing concerns that the spray causes cancer. The decision ends a program that has continued for more than two decades, raising questions about the viability of long-accepted strategies in the war on drugs in the region. Colombia is one of the closest allies of the United States in Latin America and its most stalwart partner on antidrug policy, but the change of strategy has the potential to add a new element of tension to the relationship. [continues 1068 words]
For more than two decades, crop dusters have buzzed the skies of Colombia showering bright green fields of coca with chemical defoliant as part of a US-funded effort to stem the country's production of cocaine. Farmers across the country have long complained that indiscriminate spraying also destroys legal crops, and that the chemical used - glyphosate - has caused everything from skin rashes and respiratory problems to diarrhoea and miscarriages. Authorities in Colombia and the US which has funded the aerial eradication programme with as much as $2bn (UKP1.3bn) since 2000 - argued that aerial spraying was the most effective and safest method of destroying coca plants - the raw material for cocaine. [continues 476 words]
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - The new labeling of the world's most-popular weed killer as a likely cause of cancer is raising more questions for an aerial spraying program in Colombia that is the cornerstone of the U.S.-backed war on drugs. The International Agency for Research on Cancer, a French-based research arm of the World Health Organization, has reclassified the herbicide glyphosate as a result of what it said is convincing evidence the chemical produces cancer in lab animals and more limited findings it causes non-Hodgkin lymphoma in humans. [continues 225 words]
U.S. Program Funds Spray in Colombia Called a Carcinogen BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - The new labeling of the world's most-popular weed killer as a likely cause of cancer is raising more questions for an aerial spraying program in Colombia that is the cornerstone of the U.S.backed war on drugs. The International Agency for Research on Cancer, a French-based research arm of the World Health Organization, has reclassified the herbicide glyphosate as a result of what it said is convincing evidence the chemical produces cancer in lab animals and more limited findings it causes nonHodgkin lymphoma in humans. [continues 459 words]
BOGOTA: The recent labelling of the world's most popular weed killer as a likely cause of cancer is raising more questions for an aerial spraying programme in Colombia that is the cornerstone of the US-backed war on drugs. The International Agency for Research on Cancer, a French-based research arm of the World Health Organisation, has reclassified the herbicide glyphosate as a result of what it says is convincing evidence the chemical produces cancer in lab animals and more limited findings that it causes non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in humans. [continues 208 words]
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP)- New labeling on the world's most popular weed killer as a likely cause of cancer is raising more questions for an aerial spraying program in Colombia that underpins U.S.-financed efforts to wipe out cocaine crops. The International Agency for Research on Cancer, a French-based research arm of the World Health Organization, on Thursday reclassified the herbicide glyphosate as a carcinogen that poses a greater potential danger to industrial users than homeowners. The agency cited evidence that the herbicide produces cancer in lab animals and more limited findings that it causes non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in humans. [continues 203 words]
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - New labeling on the world's most popular weed killer as a likely cause of cancer is raising more questions for an aerial spraying program in Colombia that underpins U.S.financed efforts to wipe out cocaine crops. The International Agency for Research on Cancer, a French-based research arm of the World Health Organization, on Thursday reclassified the herbicide glyphosate as a carcinogen that poses a greater potential danger to industrial users than homeowners. The agency cited what it called convincing evidence that the herbicide produces cancer in lab animals and more limited findings that it causes non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in humans. [continues 246 words]
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - The new labeling of the world's most-popular weed killer as a likely cause of cancer is raising more questions for an aerial spraying program in Colombia that is the cornerstone of the U.S.-backed war on drugs. The International Agency for Research on Cancer, a French-based research arm of the World Health Organization (WHO), has reclassified the herbicide glyphosate as a result of what it said is convincing evidence the chemical produces cancer in lab animals and more limited findings it causes non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in humans. [continues 567 words]
A government led by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) would review the decriminalisation of marijuana, according to General Secretary Joseph Harmon, who says research needs to be done. "We as the APNU, what we are committing to is a review of the laws as it relates to the use and sentencing policies as in relation to marijuana," Harmon told reporters on Friday. Harmon said the coalition realises that many of the country's young men are languishing in the prison system because they were caught with small amounts of the drug and a study needs to be undertaken to ascertain if this has been beneficial to the country's development. [continues 209 words]
MONTEVIDEO (AFP) - After Uruguay first moved to legalize marijuana in 2013, the approach has taken root in Latin America with several other countries now considering a revamp of their own drug laws. "Someone has to start in South America," Uruguayan President Jose Mujica said in late 2013 as he unveiled plans to make cannabis legal in his country. Under Mujica, Uruguay became the first country in the world to fully legalize marijuana all the way from the cannabis field to the joint, setting up a regulated market for cultivation, sales and use. Though marijuana is not yet being sold in pharmacies, the National Drug Council, or JND, already counts 1,300 of the country's 3.3 million inhabitants registered as self-producers. There are also six clubs of up to 45 consumers. [continues 609 words]
Here's the biggest irony of Tuesday's mid-term elections: the US government will continue demanding that Mexico, Colombia and other countries fight the marijuana trade as part of its "war on drugs," while Washington voters have just approved making pot legal in the US capital. Under an initiative passed by DC voters in Tuesday's elections, residents aged over 21 will be able to possess two ounces of marijuana and grow up to six plants for recreational consumption outside federal lands, pending congressional approval of the measure. [continues 633 words]
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - A Chilean municipality planted the country's first medical marijuana on Wednesday as part of a pilot program aimed to help ease the pain of cancer patients. The 850 seeds were imported from the Netherlands, and oil extracted from about half of the plants will be given to 200 patients selected by a municipality in the capital of Santiago and by the Daya Foundation, a nonprofit group that sponsors pain-relieving therapies. "We're living at a time, in Chile and the rest of the world, where it's not reasonable to close yourself to new evidence. Marijuana can provide some dignity to those who suffer," said La Florida district Mayor Rodolfo Carter, who was inspired to back medical marijuana while watching his late father battle cancer. "It doesn't cure cancer but we can alleviate the pain." [continues 98 words]
The Country Votes Today for a Successor to Jose Mujica, and Candidates Have Doubts About His Headline-Grabbing Reform Juan Palese, 25, stands outside the door of his Urugrow shop, sharing a red-tipped marijuana joint with a group of young friends. The sweet, pungent aroma of cannabis permeates the street as chattering students from Montevideo's nearby school of social sciences walk heedlessly by. Photograph by Uki Goni Juan Palese sells fertilisers and compost for growing cannabis at home from his shop in Montevideo. [continues 1227 words]
Uruguay Election Heading for Runoff, No Party Expected to Get Majority in Congress MONTEVIDEO -- Uruguayan voters decide today whether to give the ruling coalition another term after a decade of strong growth and social reforms, or turn to an opposition candidate who vows market friendly policies but keeping "positive things". Opinion polls ahead of the presidential election show young center-rightist Luis Lacalle Pou forcing the governing coalition's Tabare Vazquez, a former president, into a runoff vote in late November. [continues 619 words]
In a reverse of the bottom-up process playing out in North America, Uruguay's socialist government legalized marijuana in the face of stiff disapproval from the majority of its citizens. Lawmakers believe legalization is the best way to neutralize drug For a room full of potheads, with a ceiling wreathed in pale grey smoke, there is a surprising amount of bustle in Urugrow on a Tuesday afternoon. This small shop in the heart of the Uruguayan capital is the premiere location for those seeking to grow their own marijuana, and the three young owners cannot import the big, boxy, vinyl grow kits fast enough. [continues 2315 words]
There's a revolution happening in the streets of this sleepy South American capital-one full of controversial land mines, landmark precedents and intense international heat. It's the kind of uprising you can smell, and it's a familiar scent in Colorado. Marijuana is on the lips and minds of many Uruguayans. While the possession of cannabis has been federally legal here since 1974, the government's recent effort to regulate the sale of recreational marijuana has thrust the quiet, modest country of 3.3million into the international limelight. [continues 1984 words]
MONTEVIDEO, August 28, 2014 (AFP) - Just a handful of people had registered by midday Wednesday to be private growers of marijuana in Uruguay, the first country to fully legalize the production, sale and distribution of the drug. Under a controversial law passed last December, marijuana users who sign up for a national register are allowed to grow cannabis, buy it at a pharmacy or join a distribution club. On the first day of registration for private growers, 10 people had signed up in the morning -- three in the capital Montevideo and seven in the South American country's interior, according to the newly created Institute for the Regulation and Control of Cannabis (IRCCA). [continues 141 words]
Juan Manuel Santos Approves Bill Allowing Sales of Medicinal Cannabis Praised Bill for Giving People Access to Medicine While Reducing Crime Uruguay Has Legalised Drug, With Brazil and Chile Considering Law Change The President of Colombia has endorsed new legislation which paves the way for legalising medical cannabis. Juan Manuel Santos made the announcement yesterday at a drug policy forum in the capital Bogota. Mr Santos called the bill 'a practical, compassionate measure to reduce the pain (and) anxiety of patients with terminal illnesses' while adding that it would help combat crime. [continues 193 words]
URUGUAY, the first country to fully legalise the production, sale and distribution of marijuana, has called for bids from private growers who want to farm cannabis in a public field. The tender seeks up to five growers who will get a licence to farm marijuana plants and sell it to consumers. Growers will be able to produce up to two tons of cannabis per year, to be sold at pharmacies for about $1.08 a gram. [end]
(AP) - Uruguay's plan to create the world's first national, government-regulated marketplace for legal marijuana may be going up in smoke. Delays in implementing the plan are putting it at risk as polls point to opposition gains in October's election and reveal that most Uruguayans oppose it. Opposition politicians have said they will seek to repeal or modify the legislation, which gives the national government power to oversee the production, sale and consumption of marijuana. [end]
Dear Editor, Over the last years, there has been much said about police brutality towards members of our society, more so the poorer class. The first police force when established in London by Sir Robert Peel was designed to protect the property of the rich from attacks by the criminal, mostly poor element. The police attacks noted are just reminders of the real role of the force. It is not by accident they are called a 'Force.' There is a huge gap in wealth between the rich and the poor . As a consequence, the poor have increased their criminal activities to reduce this gap. These acts of murder and robbery should not be condoned. What else can the poor do to redress this imbalance in wealth distribution? [continues 152 words]
Dear Editor, The President was acting in one of his more playful roles recently. It was reported that he seeks to make the country "totally inhospitable for drug traffickers. (KN, June 27). Acting aside, he is most unconvincing. I do not believe the President; I do not believe he has the will or skill to live out to that loud far-reaching statement. Quite candidly, this is simply more hot air from a president, government, and party that has an inexhaustible supply of such air. [continues 459 words]
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) - A marijuana growing club is taking steps to be the first officially recognized in Uruguay, where lawmakers have made their country the world's first national marketplace for legal pot. Drug Control Chief Julio Calzada said Tuesday the Association of Cannabis Studies of Uruguay began the process by registering with the Education and Culture ministry. The club will have 40 members and will be headed by Laura Blanco. She tells local El Pais newspaper that members will pay $300 dollars each to join, and a monthly fee of up to $65. Some of the members will use the marijuana to treat medical conditions. Uruguayan lawmakers in December approved their country's experiment with marijuana, giving the government the power to oversee production, sales and consumption of a drug illegal almost everywhere else. [end]
Dear Editor, Regarding your thoughtful June 14 editorial, the move to decriminalize marijuana in Jamaica will definitely be worth watching. Guyana would be wise to follow suit. United States President Barack Obama is allowing marijuana legalization to move forward. The next president may not be so enlightened. Guyana should legalize marijuana now, before the US starts using its superpower status to bully other nations once again. It's not just about opportunistic timing, it's the right thing to do. Marijuana prohibition is indefensible. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to subsidize violent drug cartels, prohibition is a grand success. [continues 112 words]
Last month the University of the West Indies hosted a three-day Cannabis Conference at its Mona campus, co-sponsored by UWI and the Cannabis Commercial and Medicinal Research Task Force (CCMRTF). Scientists and researchers from several countries addressed the likely economic implications of decriminalization, as well as the drug's sacramental uses in Rastafarian culture, and the commercial exploitation of its unquestioned medicinal benefits. Building on the Jamaican government's earlier gestures towards decriminalization, the conference ended with a 12-point roadmap that could, with sufficient political will, produce new legislation within a year. When Caricom leaders gather in Antigua next month they may wish to consider similar policies. [continues 432 words]
Uruguay will exempt marijuana production and sales from taxes in a bid to ensure prices remain low enough to undercut competition from black market pot smuggled from Paraguay, according to consultants advising the government on a plan for legalization. Congress approved a law allowing the cultivation and sale of marijuana in December, making Uruguay the first country to do so, with the aim of wresting the business away from criminals. [end]
Inside South America
