Uruguay’s lower house voted today to approve a bill that would make marijuana a legal, government-controlled drug.
The measure, if it passes the Senate in the fall, will make Uruguay the first nation to produce and sell marijuana legally, AFP reports. Supporters of the bill believe that creating a legal marijuana industry will be effective in combatting the war on drugs by putting drug dealers out of business, according to The Guardian.
TIME reports that if the Senate approves the bill, Uruguay’s government will buy marijuana from licensed growers and then distribute it to pharmacies, who can only sell to Uruguayan nationals. Purchases will be restricted to 40 grams per month, and private citizens will be able to grow their own plants for personal use.
The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) released a statement shortly after the bill was approved, urging Uruguay to not allow the measure to pass as it would violate the terms of international drug treaties, particularly the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs which bans the sale of marijuana for non-medical uses.
Photo courtesy of Khalid Mahmood, Wikimedia Commons