Uruguay MPs back marijuana legalisation bill
Those supporting the bill want it passed quickly
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.
The measure is backed by the government of President Jose Mujica, who says it will remove profits from drug dealers and divert users from harder drugs.
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
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.
The pontiff said it was "necessary to tackle the problems which are at the root of drug abuse, promoting more justice, educating the youth with the values that live in society, standing by those who face hardship and giving them hope for the future".
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