Senate expected to approve plan which president says aims to get organised crime out of marijuana dealing, not promote use

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Uruguay's plan to set up a legal, regulated marijuana market has reached its final legislative stage, with the Senate expected to approve the plan by late on Tuesday and send it to President José Mujica for his signature.

Senators prepared for a long day and night of speeches starting on Tuesday morning. The body is dominated by Mujica's ruling Broad Front coalition, which wants to make Uruguay the world's first nation to put the government at the centre of a legalised marijuana trade.

Congress's lower house has already passed the measure, and the Senate has rejected all proposed amendments. Mujica is one of the plan's biggest advocates despite saying he has never tried cannabis himself.

Polls say two-thirds of Uruguayans oppose the plan, despite a national TV campaign and other lobbying efforts funded by billionaire currency speculator and philanthropist George Soros, whose Open Society Foundation and Drug Policy Alliance campaigned for the proposal.

Mujica says the goal is to get organised crime out of marijuana dealing, not to promote the use of cannabis. "This is a plague, just like cigarettes are a plague," he said recently.

The government hopes that when licensed growers, providers and users can openly trade in the drug, illegal traffickers will be denied their profits and go away.

Socialist deputy Julio Bango, who co-authored the proposal, said: "This is not a law to liberalise marijuana consumption, but rather to regulate it. Today there is a market dominated by drug traffickers. We want the state to dominate it."

The project includes a media campaign, launched on Friday, which aims to reduce cannabis smoking by warning of its health risks.