Marijuana Law at Stake as Uruguay Votes for New President
Marijuana Law at Stake as Uruguay Votes for New President
“Uruguay’s current leaders may have misjudged support for the marihuana law when it passed,” points out COA’s Eric Farnsworth.
Ten months after Uruguay became the first nation to legalize the sale of marijuana, this weekend’s presidential elections may decide whether the groundbreaking measure ever comes into practice.
Polls show the vote will probably go to a second round on Nov. 30 between ruling Broad Front candidate Tabare Vazquez, who has shown limited support for the policy, and the opposition National Party’s Luis Lacalle Pou, who said he’ll repeal the law. The latest surveys show the two statistically tied in a second round....
Uruguay’s current leaders may have misjudged support for the law when it passed, said Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Council of the Americas.
“There’s a difference between decriminalization and legalization and it’s possible that President Mujica got too far out in front on the issue,” Farnsworth said by phone from Washington. “The sense is that Uruguayans didn’t want people thrown in jail for taking a toke but neither did they want open air markets and for marijuana to be the thing that defines their country internationally....”
