In December 2013, the Uruguayan Chamber of Senators approved Law 19.172, through which the General Assembly regulated the production, marketing and possession of marijuana in Uruguay.

According to the Scientific Advisory Committee for Monitoring and Evaluation of the Policy for the Regulation and Control of Marijuana in Uruguay, Law 19.172 decriminalizes users of recreational cannabis, and helps concentrate the country’s institutional efforts in the promotion of drug prevention programs, as well as medical care for the potential affected users, while fighting drug trafficking.

Nearly three years after the creation of this law, it is worth examining how its implementation is doing.

U.S. News Updates

Arkansas

Exciting news come out of California yesterday. Spark the Conversation – a nonprofit cannabis organization dedicated to changing the social stigma around cannabis consumption – leaves for a two-week California-length bus tour.

With California’s Proposition 64 on the ballot in November, the tour comes at an opportune time to discuss personal liberties and cannabis.

The bus will leave Los Angeles on October 19, run the length of California and back, and then conclude in San Francisco for an election viewing party on November 8.

Over the past few decades, the U.S. has spent hundreds of billions of dollars trying to stem the flow of drugs from the Mexican border.

San Diego is on the front lines of that battle: filling in underground tunnels, taking down smuggling organizations, prosecuting corrupt border officers, freezing money-laundering operations and seizing loads of illegal drugs that come in by semi, car, person, boat and even drone.

By far, marijuana has historically been the cash crop traffickers have depended on.

Legalized marijuana could be "a game-changer" for New Jersey's economy, Senate President Stephen Sweeney said Thursday, declaring his intent to help change the law as soon as the next governor takes office in 2018.

Fresh off their trip to Colorado to see how the legal marijuana industry works, Sweeney and a group of state lawmakers told reporters Thursday they were impressed with how regulated, safe and profitable this new cash crop has been for the Rocky Mountain state.

Utah state legislators began laying the groundwork Wednesday to make another run at legalizing medical marijuana for people with certain conditions.

During a committee hearing, four Republican lawmakers presented outlines of measures they’re planning to introduce at the next legislation session that they hope can work in concert. The measures would expand legal uses of medical marijuana, create a regulatory framework to manage a program from growth to distribution, and allow for more local research to study marijuana’s impacts for different medical conditions.

Sen. Brian Shiozawa, R-Salt Lake City, urged his colleagues to take action next session, saying veterans with PTSD and cancer patients are two groups that may benefit.

There are different protocols law enforcement raiding trespass marijuana grow operations must follow to dispose of chemicals — sometimes illegal, sometimes household — on private and public lands, and the procedures can be so time consuming the chemicals can get rifled through by curious wildlife, vandalized or stolen in the meantime.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife Lt. DeWayne Little said there is a “cradle to the grave” policy on fertilizers, pesticides, petroleum and other chemicals commonly found on grow sites, meaning that if an agency deals with these chemicals, they must ensure the proper disposal. The rules are reminiscent of the playground policy of “you touched it last, so you have to throw it away.”

The Nevada Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, and the Massachusetts’ campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, both unveiled new television ads yesterday in support of their initiatives to legalize recreational cannabis.

“Our opponents are attempting to scare Nevadans into opposing Question 2″, says Joe Brezny, a spokesperson the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol.

“What our opponents would like the public to forget is that our current system poses the greatest danger to our communities. We currently have criminals profiting from selling marijuana on streets to people of all ages.”

The predicted effects of legalizing marijuana are slowly, but surely, starting to reveal themselves. A recent study published by the Cato Institute set out to prove or disprove certain claims made by proponents on both sides of the debate over marijuana legalization.

“Dose of Reality: The Effects of State Marijuana” analyzed marijuana, alcohol and other drug usage, taxes and the economy, marijuana prices, crime, traffic accidents, public health and the affect on teens in Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska using marijuana pre- and post-legalization data.

Arizona residents can vote to legalize recreational marijuana with Proposition 205 on Nov. 8. If passed, Proposition 205 would decriminalize marijuana, regulating the substance like alcohol, legal for individuals over 21. 

Carlos Alfaro, deputy campaign manager for the Yes on 205 Campaign, supports this decriminalization.

"I support Prop. 205 because I believe in personal liberty," Alfaro said. "I think it's unnecessary and ridiculous that we're arresting 15,000 adults in Arizona for simple marijuana possession. Prop. 205 is the best way to help that because not only would it be legalizing it, it would be ending prohibition and [it would be] giving money to our public schools by taxing marijuana."