Uribe wants government monopoly of medical marijuana if legalized

[Judi Lynn]

Uribe wants government monopoly of medical marijuana if legalized
Nov 17, 2014 posted by David Wing

Colombia’s former President Alvaro Uribe, leader of the conservative opposition in the Senate, wants the state to have the monopoly on the cultivation and sales of medical marijuana if approved by law.

The bill to find a framework for legalizing marijuana for medicinal, therapeutic, and scientific purposes passed the first senatorial debate last week.

The bill is strongly supported by the current governing liberal administration. President Juan Manuel Santos has also declared support in the past for the legalization of medicinal marijuana.

MORE: Santos in favor of legalizing medical marijuana in Colombia

The head of Colombia’s opposition party, Alvaro Uribe, presented an alternative proposal. The main point of his proposal was to ensure that marijuana grown for scientific purposes remains in the control of the government.

“We do not agree with the (Senate's approval). We accept that under the direction of the state we can investigate how a drug, like marijuana, can serve therapeutic (purposes). Now if the state needs crops for research, those crops are in the control of the state,” he said in a press release.

More:
http://colombiareports.co/colombia-opposition-party-demands-government-monopoly-marijuana-legalized/

[msongs]

1. the governmenet becomes the drug dealer. nice touch, conservatives nt

[Peace Patriot]

2. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

Uribe is a gas!

[Bacchus4.0]

3. Uribe wants it controlled by the Colombian state and not transnational corporations

which is of course exactly opposite of what you have been saying for years, that Colombia would do this in order for big phamaceuticals to come in and reap the benefits. Not that Uribe is progressive on marijuana policy of course. Just pointing the contradiction in your argument. Maybe Santos is more sympathetic to big business. You and your lone chavista friend sure are wrong alot.

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Uribe expressed his concern over potential complications with legalizing marijuana in a country that has been so impacted by drug-related activity, stating “in a country that has suffered so much from drugs… a drug that has destroyed families, new generations; the prestige of the Colombian community, how can we now permit that transnational [actors] come… and plant marijuana in Colombia!”