Uruguayan President Jose Mujica is moving forward in his quest to legalize the production, distribution and sale of marijuana during a hearing on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.
The state Senate is expected to approve the law which could lead Uruguay to be the first country entirely regulate every section of the marijuana market, according to the AP.
Educators, psychiatrists and pharmacists have all rallied with conservative opposition against the law, claiming extreme and dangerous side effects if the law were to be put in action, The Telegraph reported.
Some psychiatrists from Uruguay have said a rise in mental illness may occur if the law is passed, according to The Telegraph. Educators said more educational failures will happen and pharmacists say selling pot alongside prescription drugs hurts their profession.
Uruguayan lawmakers have already turned down the option for any amendments to be added after the law is passed, meaning the vote will be final, but according to The Telegraph, a conservative opposition group in Uruguay is going to demand a referendum to repeal the law if it's passed.
Gerardo Amarilla of the National Party said such decision should be left to the citizens, who have openly expressed concerns on whether this law is the correct way to deal with the drug market, The Telegraph reported.
Amarilla has already written to the director of Uruguay's National Party to ask for the right to a referendum if the law is passed, according to The Telegraph.
President Mujica insists the law is in no way to promote drug use, but instead to block organized crime by cutting off drug profits through illegal trade, adding that the bill does not condone drug use, the AP reported.
"We are not legalising cannabis," Mujica told Brazilian newspaper Zero Hora. "We are regulating a market that already exists. We didn't invent this market, it already exists, today, here. We are trying to regulate and intervene in this market because trafficking is worse than drugs."
