Monday, October 22nd, 2012
Stephan: It is a measure of the waning influence of the U.S. that other countries have had it with our War on Drugs, and our Rightist social values, and are going their own way, trying other approaches to drugs and abortion.
Everyone knows about Holland but, surprisingly, few seem to know Portugal's drug laws were changed in 2000 and went into effect in July 2001. The new law maintained the status of illegality for using or possessing any drug for personal use without authorization. However, the offense was changed from a criminal one to an administrative procedure so long as the amount possessed was no more than ten days' supply of that substance. Functionally Marijuana usage is ignored.
What happened? In 1999, Portugal had the highest rate of HIV amongst injecting drug users in the European Union. Since the new laws have been in place the rate has decreased.
According to a study done by the conservative Cato Institute, 'Judging by every metric, decriminalization in Portugal has been a resounding success.' Glenn Greenwald, who conducted the research said, 'It has enabled the Portuguese government to manage and control the drug problem far better than virtually every other Western country does.'
Now we have Uruguay.
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay – Uruguayans used to call their country the Switzerland of Latin America, but its faded grey capital seems a bit more like Amsterdam now that its congress has legalized abortion and is drawing up plans to sell government-grown marijuana.
Both measures would be unthinkable in many other countries. Cuba is the only other nation in the region that makes first-trimester abortions accessible to all women, and no country in the world produces and sells pot for drug users to enjoy.
But President Jose ‘Pepe’ Mujica, a flower-farming former leftist guerrilla, vowed to sign whatever bill congress could settle on that can minimize the 30,000 illegal abortions his government says Uruguayan women suffer annually.
And while lawmakers have yet to debate pot sales, Mujica’s ruling Broad Front coalition staked its ground in August by openly declaring that the drug war has failed. Smoking pot – if not growing and selling it – is already legal in Uruguay, and supplying the weed is a $30 million business, the government said.
This is democracy ‘a la Uruguaya’ – the Uruguayan way – a phrase that reflects both the pride and the unmet promises of a society where finding common ground is a highly shared value, […]
