MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Uruguay becomes first country to oversee production and sale of marijuana
Uruguay's Senate has approved ground-breaking legislation legalizing marijuana, becoming the first nation in the world to oversee the production and sale of the drug. After a marathon debate, the 16 senators from the ruling coalition out of 29 lawmakers voted Tuesday in favor of the legislation championed by President Jose Mujica, who must now sign it into law. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesGroovy......
Dec 11th, 2013 - 05:41 am - Link - Report abuse 0Everybody sing along now....
-Don't bogart that joint, my friend...
Pass it over to me...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvGJvzwKqg0
I'll admit that I am not sure how I feel about this. While I recognise some of the medicinal properties of marijuana, I still believe that the ill effects for the vast majority of users is all too real.
Dec 11th, 2013 - 05:43 am - Link - Report abuse 0As countries such as Australia look to be winning the battle against tobacco, it now appears that there might be a new acceptable and legalised addiction that future generations may have to live with.
If the war on drugs is a failure, that doesn't necessarily mean that the answer is capitulation.
Best argument I ever heard was from some Duchess in the 1960's who said something like “ we've got alcohol - why do we we need two”
Dec 11th, 2013 - 05:47 am - Link - Report abuse 0Think,
Dec 11th, 2013 - 08:17 am - Link - Report abuse 0I thought that would make you happy. Your comments say it all.
Now you and the other like-minded Gringos can travel to two countries in SA: Bolivia and Uruguay.
Sweet dreams.
This is all very interesting to me. I'd love to know how much these 'consumer clubs' are going to charge. How strong is the dope going to be? Do they not not know how much dope you can harvest from 6 plants? If you can grow 6 plants at a time, that means 24 per year if they are grown hydroponically ( which takes half the time that outdoor gear takes to reach maturity ). A mature dope plant can grow to be six feet high by three foot wide. I've even seen pictures of plants that were more then ten feet high.
Dec 11th, 2013 - 08:25 am - Link - Report abuse 0I have no doubt that the non-government dope will be cheaper than before - but not much. The only real expense comes from the cost of the chemicals, the cost and availability of grow lamps, and the cost of the electricity - running several 800 watt lamps simultaneously chews through a lot of juice.
I don't know how easy it is to score pot in Uruguay, but in my neighbourhood all I would have to do is walk 5 minutes in any direction and I could find someone who would tell me where I could get some weed. With almost zero chance of being busted. And it's cheap too - it only costs $260 - $300 an ounce - 28 grams - ( always imperial measurement - I have no idea why ) which, if you are just a recreational user, could last you at least two months. The sale of grow lamps has become much more tightly regulated in my state recently and yet, to the best of my knowledge, the price hasn't dropped at all.
In any case my government already provides a practically free drug that is much more damaging than cannabis. It's called methadone - which is much worse for your health than heroin ( it gets into your bone marrow and rots your teeth ), harder to detox ( a heroin detox usually takes about 4 days, methadone can take three months ) and turns people into zombies. And people still overdose from it.
Governments always think they can control addiction - not just drug addiction. They can't .
Doorway to other drugs.
Dec 11th, 2013 - 10:13 am - Link - Report abuse 0Uruguay government: If at first you fail, give up.
the Uruguayian government has got as high as it can go,
Dec 11th, 2013 - 11:21 am - Link - Report abuse 0so now it gets its own people as high as they can.
still,
just pray if you are a passenger on a plane landing there,
or cross the road , it seem they are going to have a high old time this Christmas ..lol
It will be interesting to see what happens. I commend the boldness.
Dec 11th, 2013 - 12:22 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Wonder how the Uruguayan government will react when every one of its “citizens” is automatically detained and drug-tested on attempted entry to proper countries? Will the relevant airlines have the capacity to “repatriate” all the Uruguayans refused entry?
Dec 11th, 2013 - 01:17 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Narbis in one form or another is part of life in most of the world, and a way of life in some parts.
Dec 11th, 2013 - 02:07 pm - Link - Report abuse 0De-restricting Cannabis, in the UK at least, would to some extent separate this from other drugs, in terms of supply chain to the street, and allow for Police resources to be directed towards seizing hard drugs, and people higher up the food chain.
Far too often target (numbers of arrests) driven police, are busting low (or even very low) level dealers, in locations where five more dealer points spring up before they have even left the house they are raiding.
This is not even containing the overall situation, never mind “winning” the war on drugs. Prohibition springs to mind.
@ 5 Heisenbergcontext
20 years ago most of the cannabis sold on the streets in the UK was imported hash, smuggled in, approx 10% active cannaboids.
Today almost all is home grown “Skunk”, 20-30% active cannaboids. £150 to £250 per Oz (also still in imperial) depending upon the quality. With all the associated mental health issues that brings.
Hydroponically grown plants produce about 6-8 Oz per plant, so I’m told.
Seeds available on the internet, pick your preferred variety, and strength. Sold as all female plants. “Pinching out” prevents the plants growing too tall, ask any Gardner, apparently.
LED’s are the latest thing instead of bulbs, however your real problem is moisture and the smell (hence the name “Skunk”, they don’t need sniffer dogs to find the stuff), the “farms” (houses converted for growing) use carbon filters in the air extract systems to remove this, allegedly.
The Police use helicopter with thermal cameras to find the “farms”, even in built up areas in summer, they glow.
When they are not too busy busting someone on a street somewhere for possession of a 1/8 of an Oz, that is.
@6 Room101
Dec 11th, 2013 - 02:19 pm - Link - Report abuse 0'Doorway to other drugs'.
This is a commonly held myth. I remember getting off the train in Kings Cross ( Sydney ) and instantly being asked by someone if I wanted to 'get on'. It wasn't pot the guy was offering. In any case everyone knew, at that time ( 1996 ), that if you wanted to score some smack in Sydney all you had to do was take the train to Cabramatta. Young people would take the train out there and be nodding off on the way back.
People who want to use drugs can always find someone who will sell them to 'em.
Who were the main protagonists to get marijuana banned? The tobacco companies for obvious reasons.
Dec 11th, 2013 - 02:19 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Perhaps if USA is really serious about drug abuse the 19th Amendment, otherwise known as the Volstead Act prohibiting the sale of alcohol should be resurrected. Al Capone would rise from his grave in delight.
If you really want to get stoned, the best place is a Muslim country where alk is forbidden.
Meantime here in Uruguay. Anybody interested in setting up a joint stock company? Get in now while the share price is down in the weeds!!!
Think, can I rely on you to write the company share prospective?
@10 Pugol-H
Dec 11th, 2013 - 02:44 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The figure 6-8 Oz per plant sounds very conservative to me, but they just be small plants. It all depends on how much space is being used. The female plants produce the heads which contain THC - the ingredient that gets you stoned. It's the males that produce the seeds. And yes, you can buy seeds on the internet. The Netherlands of course.
I hadn't heard of growers using LED's. Interesting. I have heard of carbon filters, although most people just use extractor fans. When the heads are harvested they are almost dripping with resin and the smell is incredibly pungent. It can take more than a week to dry before it's chopped up and packaged.
@12 redpoll
I know that troops in Afghanistan are always complaining that the Afghan recruits they are training always getting stoned on hash.
@13 hash is different. The word assassins comes from that and it's effects.
Dec 11th, 2013 - 03:00 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Be careful in Kings X Sydney.
I was told if you drop your wallet in that area, don't bend down to pick it up
Way off topic I know
@14 Redpoll
Dec 11th, 2013 - 03:14 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Hash is just a more concentrated form - it has a higher level of THC. It'll just get you more stoned. It won't make you want to assassinate anyone.
The Cross is just a red-light district, with all it's attendant issues. It's also the only part of Australia where I've been propositioned by a hooker.
@13 Heisenbergcontext
Dec 11th, 2013 - 03:19 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Yes it is a conservative figure, I have heard of 12 banded about.
The biology of the plant is very interesting, not only does it come in male and female, but over a few generations will change from Ganga to hemp plant, or back again, depending upon the latitude it senses its being grown at.
You will find both males and females produce cannaboids in the flowers, male flowers produce pollen, female flowers however if kept separate (well separate) from any males, do not get fertilised and therefore do not produce any seeds, the flowers just keep getting stronger in oil.
You have to watch them though, females in isolation are capable of producing their own male flowers, and fertilising themselves.
Sensi as it is called in Jamacian, from the Spanish sin-semillas.
Just take a look at the comments from 10 onwards. These are the drug users, addicts and pushers. The latest available evidence is that cannabis, over time, makes you stupid. Anybody seen films or videos of how druggies end up? I have. A post-mortem. The “subject” was a 22-year old female. Looked about 70 years old. And Bolivians are into “coca”. And why is latino-america the drug “capital” of the world? Ever noticed latinos are brain-dead? Hysterical? Puerile? And the reason is..........?
Dec 11th, 2013 - 03:31 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I wonder if The Dear Leader Pepe will class this law as social inclusion?
Dec 11th, 2013 - 03:50 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@16 Pugol-H
Dec 11th, 2013 - 03:52 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Lol, I see you've been doing some research. Yes if you're growing outdoors you'll separate the males from the females asap. I've heard of sensimilla but I didn't know how it was produced.
Cannabis grows wild in many places - Siberia and Columbia come to mind. In the '70's a resourceful young American - Allen Long - figured out how to fly the fabled Columbian gold all the way to the states. College kids went nuts for it - it was very strong for the times. In Tasmania they grow hemp that has negligible levels of THC. It's legal - hemp fibers are very strong and have a lot commercial applications.
@17 eh by gum conq, you do jump in with both feet at times, lad!
Dec 11th, 2013 - 03:54 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I have never taken drugs in my life unless prescribed by my doctor.
Yes I do savour a nice whisky from time to time, and smoke the occasional cigarette.
Hewing coca leaves long pre dates the European conquest as an antidote to altitude sickness and is still legal in the northern provinces of Argentina such as Salta and Tucuman.
If you take the tourist train “El Tren de Los Nubes” which gets to an altitude of nearly 15,000 feet, you are offered coca leaves to chew or oxygen.
Most tourists choose the coca option
@17 Conqueror
Dec 11th, 2013 - 04:33 pm - Link - Report abuse 0ZzzZzzz, uhh, uumm, errrr, wots zat!!!
@19 Heisenbergcontext
Once lived next door to an “old time Jamaican” gent. What he didn’t know about growing Ganga, had not yet been discovered.
Hemp has been grown in England for centuries as well, hence Hemel Hempstead, main rope producing centre for Henry VIII’s navy.
Recently started growing it as a commercial crop again.
@21 sounds like a lot of old rope to me mate
Dec 11th, 2013 - 04:38 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@17 Conqueror
Dec 11th, 2013 - 04:39 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Once upon a time I worked in a rehab. A very good one as it turned out which is where the bulk of my knowledge of drugs and addiction comes from. One of my duties was to escort clients to 12 step meetings ( A.A., N.A. and even G.A. ). It's the best education in life I've ever received.
Any drug that's used to excess will produce damage - morally, physically and spiritually. Alcohol is a drug like any other and I would say produces the most damage to society. I have met a man who killed someone in a blackout, something he would never have done when sober. I have seen the effects of Korsakoff Syndrome from excessive drinking. It shrinks the brain and alters the shape of the skull. Every week my local news is filled with reports of alcohol-fueled violence from the city center. I don't go there on weekends anymore. It's just not worth it.
”drug capital of the world'. What does that mean? The drug CONSUMPTION 'capital of the world' is the U.S. It was that region that figured out how to refine, package, market and sell to it's millions of consumers. Without that market the problems that now exist in Latin America wouldn't exist.
And for the record I don't drink alcohol and the only drug I consume is nicotine.
Nice post hiesenberg. I agree
Dec 11th, 2013 - 04:48 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@22 redp0ll
Dec 11th, 2013 - 04:49 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Lol, the youth on the street won’t pay money for old rope though.
Well if they can't hemp it, they will have to hump it!
Dec 11th, 2013 - 05:07 pm - Link - Report abuse 0That’ll give em the right hump!
Dec 11th, 2013 - 05:10 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Humps? Smoke a Camel perhaps a better answer?
Dec 11th, 2013 - 05:15 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@21 Pugol-H
Dec 11th, 2013 - 05:15 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Those wacky Jamaicans!
@24 redpoll
Cheers. I was at the end of my rope.
( 21 ) Pugol-H
Dec 11th, 2013 - 05:24 pm - Link - Report abuse 0You say...:
“Once lived next door to an “old time Jamaican” gent. What he didn’t know about growing Ganga, had not yet been discovered.”
I say...:
Well.... Not trying to offend you or that fine old Rastaman in any way but..... it's spelled “Cannabinoids” ;-)
Think
Dec 11th, 2013 - 05:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I think you refer to Rastoferians perhaps?
Well it's Ganga day in your country
Perhaps with your illustrious ancestry you are eligible for the title of colonel of Maroons in Jamaica?
Rope springs eternal!
Dec 11th, 2013 - 05:45 pm - Link - Report abuse 0(31) redp0ll
Dec 11th, 2013 - 05:49 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Geeeeeeee........
It's spelled Rastafarians Mr. Redpoll; R A S T A F A R I A N S.
Bob must be turning in his grave cause all those uneducated Anglos :-)))
@ 30 Think
Dec 11th, 2013 - 06:16 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Actually he wasn’t a Rasta.
Not to “beat about the bush” on this one:
You say “Cannabinoids”.
I say Tomato.
Robert Nestor Marley however, had an English farther.
32 Condorito
You’re on the ropes with that one!
(34) Pugol-H(igh?)
Dec 11th, 2013 - 06:21 pm - Link - Report abuse 0No, Mr. Pugol.......
I say “Cannabinoids”.
You say Toato.....
My typo Think
Dec 11th, 2013 - 06:24 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Recently sailed off Africa in a dhow in East Africa and there was Bob Marley on the sail,looking a bit tatty but a great sail with the guys giving an excellent show of rap and local music
The crew was all Muslim,so I said
Fancy a beer?
They looked a bit furtive until the captain said
Well our Imam can't see us out here, so a few stubbies were shared
Cat O' Nine Tails all round then eh?
Dec 11th, 2013 - 06:47 pm - Link - Report abuse 0(34) Pugol-H(igh?)
Dec 11th, 2013 - 06:51 pm - Link - Report abuse 0What difference does correct spelling make?
Inhale some THC….
Then inhale some TCE…
Do you get my drift now…? ;-)
Thanks Think
Dec 11th, 2013 - 07:00 pm - Link - Report abuse 0You do rather pedantically at times as a grammarian insist on correct English.
To quote Churchill when accused of putting prepositions at the end of his sentences,replied
“This is the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put”
@34
Dec 11th, 2013 - 07:08 pm - Link - Report abuse 0lol
@38 Think
Dec 11th, 2013 - 07:28 pm - Link - Report abuse 0ADIS, don’t die of dyslexia.
Ingest some more whiskey…
Exude some more drivel…
Is that a “snow” drift???
(48) Pugol-H(igh?)
Dec 11th, 2013 - 08:18 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Watch your blood pressure, mate.....
As I said at (30), I didn't want to offend you or your Jamaican neighbor....
I just wanted to correct a minor flaw in your quite adequate knowledge on growth method for Cannabis .....
Think you are evidently an expert on marijuana cultivation.
Dec 11th, 2013 - 08:22 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Can you let us into the secrets of growing it?
43 redp0ll
Dec 11th, 2013 - 08:28 pm - Link - Report abuse 0As with all other natural things I would highly reccomend free range, kiddo... ;-)
Pity Think wasn’t this pedantic when he wrote his comments on the police strike thread..... I guess he is salving his wounds over here….
Dec 11th, 2013 - 08:44 pm - Link - Report abuse 0You say extortion…. I say strike….
You say repudiation…. I say giving in….
Enjoy the thread Think
@43 free range Think? Does it grow wild with you on the Patagonian steppe?
Dec 11th, 2013 - 09:32 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Do Patagonian hares thrive on that diet?
(46) redpoll
Dec 11th, 2013 - 09:50 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Not in the Steppe, you silly Scot.... in the BonnieValleys......
An “old acquaintance” of mine near El Bolsón did produce a +60% shatter during the sixties....
Groovy times :-)
El Bolson? Trevellin perhaps too?
Dec 11th, 2013 - 10:07 pm - Link - Report abuse 0that's what happens when you give the Welsh a free rein.
No offence meant to our regular Welsh correspondents
(48) redp0ll
Dec 11th, 2013 - 10:13 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Trevelín ???
You must be joking....
The “Galensos” where almost stone age people during the sixties.....
Bit like the “Kelpers”, you know.... Nowadays, a completely different story.....
Now now think.
Dec 11th, 2013 - 10:24 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Galeses Stone Age people indeed. You shock me.
If it hadn't been for them introducing irrigation systems into Patagonia,you wouldn't be where you are today.
And before you knock them,many of them fought as loyal Argentine combatants in the 82 war
Their choice,but I don't blame them
(50) redp0ll
Dec 11th, 2013 - 10:33 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Misunderstand me right Mr. Redpoll....
They were some very sweet Stone Age People indeed..... Salt of the Earth, kind of...
I “Think” they had some 20 chapels in town.... and them ginger lasses were pretty hard to score...
You evidently used the wrong chat lines Think. It's surprising how far you'll get with averse or two of “Calon Lan” in Welsh!
Dec 11th, 2013 - 11:17 pm - Link - Report abuse 0(Note to myself.....)
Dec 12th, 2013 - 03:50 am - Link - Report abuse 0Learn some Calon Lân verses before my next visit to Trevelín to see if that “Verso” works with the Galensas...
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