President Pérez Molina Praises Voters of Colorado and Washington for Legalizing Marijuana and President Obama for Allowing Them to Proceed
Commends President Mujica of Uruguay for Marijuana Legalization Proposal; Says That U.N. Should Allow Countries to “Experiment with New Models”
Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina on Thursday spoke out forcefully against the failures of drug prohibition and urged countries to experiment with new drug control models while speaking at the United Nations General Assembly.
Pérez Molina praised the voters of Colorado and Washington for legalizing marijuana, President Obama for allowing the laws to proceed, and President José Mujica of Uruguay for his marijuana legalization proposal.
Colorado and Washington became the first U.S. states –- and the first political jurisdictions in the world -– to legalize the production, distribution and sale of marijuana for adults last November. Uruguay is likely to join them soon; the country’s House passed a marijuana legalization bill in July and its Senate is expected to follow suit in October.
Last month, the White House announced that the federal government will not interfere with state marijuana laws, as long as a number of stipulations are adhered to, such as preventing distribution to minors.