Former Uruguay president Tabaré Vázquez is back. He won the run-off election on Nov. 30 by a 52% margin, succeeding Jose Mujica. The country's program to grow and sell marijuana will move ahead as planned.
Vázquez defeated Luis Lacalle Pou, who said he'd attempt to repeal the law, which went into effect last year. Commercial sales have yet to begin, but home growing and possession is allowed. Vazquez backs the controversial law.
In the Oct. 26 election, the leftist Broad Front retained control of Parliament.
The pot plan is to sell government-grown cannabis for as low as $1 a gram at registered pharmacies. The law allows for six plants to be grown at home and as many as 99 as part of a cultivation club.
"There will be a strict and very close evaluation about the impact that this law has on society," Vázquez has said "We are going to analyze it very carefully. And if at any moment we see that it does not work, we will not hesitate for a moment in making the necessary corrections,"
Uruguay is the first country in the world to legalize marijuana.
