Uruguay studies possibility of allowing legal marijuana into prisons

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Daniel Radio, secretary-general of the National Drug Board (JND), the presidential agency responsible for implementing drug policies in Uruguay, spoke on Wednesday, September 22, about the possibility of allowing the prison population to have access to legal marijuana inside prisons.

Radio pointed out that there is still no official proposal; however, it is an idea that they have already started to analyze.

Read also: Check out our coverage on Uruguay

“It is not a certain question, but it is an idea to study. Among other things, we would solve the possibility of corruption of officials, the penalties for people who enter cannabis in prisons, but also because of the properties of the plant, which could be used to mitigate anxiety and anguish in prisons,” said the secretary-general of the JND to Telemundo.

The secretary also indicated that parallel power systems within the prison allow drugs to circulate, which generates conflicts and settling scores.

To strengthen his statements, Radio stated that “one out of three prisoners confesses to having consumed cannabis in the last month, one out of two says that it is easy to access cannabis and cocaine base paste in prison and seven out of 10 that there is a drug market inside the prison,” according to government reports.

“So it’s a bit strange that we all assume that, but that there is no possibility to access cannabis,” the JND representative considered.

Meanwhile, the Minister of the Interior, Luis Alberto Heber, when consulted about the proposal of the National Drug Board by the local media LaDiaria, stated that they are with “openness to study the issue”.

As of December 10, 2013, Uruguay became the first country to regulate the production, sale, and consumption of marijuana or cannabis.