Members of Uruguay's House of Representatives have passed a bill to legalise marijuana.
If it goes on to be approved by the Senate, Uruguay will
become the first country to regulate the production, distribution and
sale of marijuana. Under the bill, only the government would be allowed to sell marijuana.
The state would assume "the control and regulation of the importation, exportation, plantation, cultivation, the harvest, the production, the acquisition, the storage, the commercialisation and the distribution of cannabis and its by-products".
Buyers would have to be registered on a database and be over the age of 18. They would be able to buy up to 40g (1.4oz) per month in specially licensed pharmacies or grow up to six plants at home.
Foreigners would be excluded from the measure.
Papal opposition
If approved by the Senate as expected, this will become a
groundbreaking law, but not only for Uruguay. For decades, drug
trafficking has caused thousands of deaths throughout Latin America in
countries like Mexico or Colombia.
Legalisation has long been taboo for governments who aligned with the US anti drug policy, heavily dependent on law enforcement and prohibition.
This is still considered the orthodox approach and it is supported by conservatives and the Catholic Church.
But more and more leaders, like Guatemalan president Otto Perez Molina and former Mexican president Vicente Fox, are asking to discuss decriminalising some drugs in an attempt to undermine the cartels.
Legalisation has long been taboo for governments who aligned with the US anti drug policy, heavily dependent on law enforcement and prohibition.
This is still considered the orthodox approach and it is supported by conservatives and the Catholic Church.
But more and more leaders, like Guatemalan president Otto Perez Molina and former Mexican president Vicente Fox, are asking to discuss decriminalising some drugs in an attempt to undermine the cartels.
The bill was approved by 50 of the 96 MPs in the lower house following a fierce 13-hour debate in the capital Montevideo.
The supporters of the measure argued that the fight against
drugs and drug trafficking had failed, and the country needed "new
alternatives". The backers belonged to the governing centre-left Frente Amplio (Broad Front) coalition, which has a majority of one in the House.
It is now expected to be approved by the Senate, where the left-wing government has a bigger majority.
The bill was unveiled last year by Defence Minister Eleuterio Fernandez Huidobro who argued that "the prohibition of certain drugs is creating more problems for society than the drugs themselves".
But German Cardoso of the opposition Colorado Party said that "in no country in the world has the consumption of drugs been reduced through legalisation".
Another opposition politician, Richard Sander, said that even if the law made it through both chambers, he would launch a petition to have it overturned.
The vote comes amid fierce debate about drug legalisation in Latin America.
A group of former presidents and influential social figures, including Brazil's Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Mexico's Ernesto Zedillo and Colombian ex-leader Cesar Gaviria, have called for marijuana to be legalised and regulated.
President Jose Mujica says he has never tried marijuana but believes it should be legalised
For decades, drug trafficking has caused tens of thousands of
deaths throughout Latin America, so the progress of the bill is being
watched closely across the region, says the BBC regional analyst Ignacio
de los Reyes.Uruguay may have not experienced the bloodshed caused by drug trafficking, but the proposal could be seen as a test for violence-torn nations looking for an end to their drug wars, our correspondent adds.
The vote comes just days after Pope Francis criticised drug legalisation plans during a visit to the neighbouring Brazil.