7 ms·

Uruguay could be the world’s first marijuana republic

45 points by pitiburi 14y ago

pavel_lishin 14y ago
Marijuana republic sounds awkward. Can we just call it a cannabinocracy?
- ktizo 14y ago
  Could just call it The High Country, given it's lack of mountains.
  - moo 14y ago
    Ganjawana Land.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
Apocryphon 14y ago
"United Nations officials say no other country has seriously considered creating a completely legal state-managed monopoly for marijuana or any other substance prohibited by the 1961 United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs." I thought Morales in Bolivia was doing something with coca production?
- cwe 14y ago
  And as Brennan mentioned above [1], what about Portugal? [1] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4314916 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4314916
  - vibrunazo 14y ago
    Because Portugal didn't "legalize all drugs" as he posted. That's a common misconception, but very far from reality. The only big difference in Portugal from the rest of the planet, is that the drug user is treated like a medical patient and not a criminal. So you're ordered to go to a rehab instead of going to prison. But it's just as illegal as anywhere else. The word "decriminalization" causes a lot of confusion since it can mean a lot of different things. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_policy_of_Portugal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_policy_of_Portugal
    - zalew 14y ago
      > The only big difference in Portugal from the rest of the planet, is that the drug user is treated like a medical patient and not a criminal. You should read about Switzerland's policy on heroin. Special clinics, perscriptions, available clean needles everywhere, professional staff (and AFAIR many members of public facing professions) medically trained to perform injections in case an addict needs one but isn't phisically able to do it himself, etc. Somebody who knows better can probably expand on the details, but there's a complex multi-layer policy on drugs, from prevention and harm reduction to quality control. Ironically, smoking joints is technically illegal and the latest try to do it didn't pass the referendum, however, the fines aren't that drastic according to wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_in_Switzerland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_in_Switzerland
  - iaskwhy 14y ago
    The government does not produce drugs, people are just allowed to have individual doses. Nooone is allowed to be a producer or to sell.
brennenHN 14y ago
Last summer Portugal released a bunch of information about its decision to legalize all drugs 11 (was 10 at the time of the report) years ago. Crime, addiction, and traffic were all down and rehabilitation rates (courts can mandate rehab but not prison) were way up. The U.S. certainly isn't going to be a leader here, but here's to hoping it will eventually be a follower.
- dkl 14y ago
  Legalize != decriminalize. Portugal did the latter.
  - gcb 14y ago
    if it's not criminalized how is it still illegal?
- BlackNapoleon 14y ago
  I have a personal theory that many countries want to do this and eventually legalize. I think they're following these experiments closely and developing policy along these lines.
mrleinad 14y ago
Considering that: 1) Drugs for recreational activities such as tobacco and alcohol have very well known harmful effects, even when consumed in small dosis. 2) There are 0 annual casualties from the use of Marijuana, you just can't overdose to death on it, and it has lots of medical and non-medical uses. Can someone tell me why it was criminalized in the first place?
- zalew 14y ago
  > Can someone tell me why it was criminalized in the first place? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jO_ncXj7RE&feature=player_embedded https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jO_ncXj7RE&feature=play...
- gbog 14y ago
  Things don't have to be lethal to be undesirable. Porn, TV, junk food, all are not legal but still undesirable things. I think smoking pot in the morning is as bad an habit as watching 3h/day TV. In the sense that I would shoot at him if my little brother did one of those. Ago the argument for decriminalization should be more in the line of: let people choose their bad habits.
  - gbog 14y ago
    Wanted to edit but server was down and now I cannot edit anymore: s/shoot/shout/ s/Ago/And s/legal/lethal
- s_henry_paulson 14y ago
  (1) It was smoked by Chinese railroad workers and used as an excuse for how "lazy immigrants" were taking American jobs (2) Hemp fiber was a serious competitor to synthetic fibers being produced by chemical companies. (3) Henry Ford had built a car entirely out of hemp, and then used hemp as the fuel for the car in order to demonstrate how viable the product could be for the automotive industry (which threatened big oil). (4) Harry J. Anslinger & William Randolf Hearst and their support from dupont, big pharma, the timber industry, and their control of the media and representation in politics. There's really so much to the story that it's nearly impossible to write it all down in one place, but it's a subject that's definitely worth researching.
ojiikun 14y ago
Can't resist re-sharing this for those who haven't seen it: http://youtu.be/hMM_T_PJ0Rs http://youtu.be/hMM_T_PJ0Rs

45 points by pitiburi 14y ago

pavel_lishin 14y ago

Marijuana republic sounds awkward. Can we just call it a cannabinocracy?

ktizo 14y ago
Could just call it The High Country, given it's lack of mountains.
- moo 14y ago
  Ganjawana Land.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]

Apocryphon 14y ago

"United Nations officials say no other country has seriously considered creating a completely legal state-managed monopoly for marijuana or any other substance prohibited by the 1961 United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs." I thought Morales in Bolivia was doing something with coca production?

cwe 14y ago
And as Brennan mentioned above [1], what about Portugal? [1] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4314916 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4314916
- vibrunazo 14y ago
  Because Portugal didn't "legalize all drugs" as he posted. That's a common misconception, but very far from reality. The only big difference in Portugal from the rest of the planet, is that the drug user is treated like a medical patient and not a criminal. So you're ordered to go to a rehab instead of going to prison. But it's just as illegal as anywhere else. The word "decriminalization" causes a lot of confusion since it can mean a lot of different things. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_policy_of_Portugal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_policy_of_Portugal
  - zalew 14y ago
    > The only big difference in Portugal from the rest of the planet, is that the drug user is treated like a medical patient and not a criminal. You should read about Switzerland's policy on heroin. Special clinics, perscriptions, available clean needles everywhere, professional staff (and AFAIR many members of public facing professions) medically trained to perform injections in case an addict needs one but isn't phisically able to do it himself, etc. Somebody who knows better can probably expand on the details, but there's a complex multi-layer policy on drugs, from prevention and harm reduction to quality control. Ironically, smoking joints is technically illegal and the latest try to do it didn't pass the referendum, however, the fines aren't that drastic according to wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_in_Switzerland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_in_Switzerland
- iaskwhy 14y ago
  The government does not produce drugs, people are just allowed to have individual doses. Nooone is allowed to be a producer or to sell.

brennenHN 14y ago

Last summer Portugal released a bunch of information about its decision to legalize all drugs 11 (was 10 at the time of the report) years ago. Crime, addiction, and traffic were all down and rehabilitation rates (courts can mandate rehab but not prison) were way up. The U.S. certainly isn't going to be a leader here, but here's to hoping it will eventually be a follower.

dkl 14y ago
Legalize != decriminalize. Portugal did the latter.
- gcb 14y ago
  if it's not criminalized how is it still illegal?
BlackNapoleon 14y ago
I have a personal theory that many countries want to do this and eventually legalize. I think they're following these experiments closely and developing policy along these lines.

mrleinad 14y ago

Considering that: 1) Drugs for recreational activities such as tobacco and alcohol have very well known harmful effects, even when consumed in small dosis. 2) There are 0 annual casualties from the use of Marijuana, you just can't overdose to death on it, and it has lots of medical and non-medical uses. Can someone tell me why it was criminalized in the first place?

zalew 14y ago
> Can someone tell me why it was criminalized in the first place? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jO_ncXj7RE&feature=player_embedded https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jO_ncXj7RE&feature=play...
gbog 14y ago
Things don't have to be lethal to be undesirable. Porn, TV, junk food, all are not legal but still undesirable things. I think smoking pot in the morning is as bad an habit as watching 3h/day TV. In the sense that I would shoot at him if my little brother did one of those. Ago the argument for decriminalization should be more in the line of: let people choose their bad habits.
- gbog 14y ago
  Wanted to edit but server was down and now I cannot edit anymore: s/shoot/shout/ s/Ago/And s/legal/lethal
s_henry_paulson 14y ago
(1) It was smoked by Chinese railroad workers and used as an excuse for how "lazy immigrants" were taking American jobs (2) Hemp fiber was a serious competitor to synthetic fibers being produced by chemical companies. (3) Henry Ford had built a car entirely out of hemp, and then used hemp as the fuel for the car in order to demonstrate how viable the product could be for the automotive industry (which threatened big oil). (4) Harry J. Anslinger & William Randolf Hearst and their support from dupont, big pharma, the timber industry, and their control of the media and representation in politics. There's really so much to the story that it's nearly impossible to write it all down in one place, but it's a subject that's definitely worth researching.

ojiikun 14y ago

Can't resist re-sharing this for those who haven't seen it: http://youtu.be/hMM_T_PJ0Rs http://youtu.be/hMM_T_PJ0Rs