Vice Pulls Marijuana Stunt in Uruguay
LatestVice has come up with a new gonzo stunt to attract some eyeballs.
This time a Vice correspondent managed to casually smoke a joint as he interviewed the president of Uruguay.
The scene, which would probably be impossible to replicate with the president of any other country, is part of a trailer for Vice’s upcoming documentary on the legalization of weed in Uruguay.
We don’t understand yet how the incident comes about. Or why. But according to Uruguayan news site La Red, Vice reporter Krishna Andavolu lights one up just as he is about to start his interview with Uruguay’s 78-year-old president, Jose Mujica.
In the trailer, we also get a sense of Mujica´s personal thoughts on weed.
“If I needed drugs to feel free I’d be toast,” Mujica, a former guerilla leader, says. “My liberty is here,” he says pointing vigorously at his head.
At the end of last year, Uruguay became the “>first country in the world to fully legalize the production, sale and consumption of marijuana, despite protests from the U.N.
The law, which will enable pharmacies to sell weed at prices set by the government, is actually opposed by 60% of Uruguay’s own citizens, according to a local poll.
But President Mujica pushed this measure through congress nevertheless. He’s hoping that by legalizing the herb, he can bring users out of the shadows, direct addicts to treatment more effectively and put drug traffickers out of business.
Mujica signed the marijuana law on Dec. 24, but the government still has to come up with specific regulations on how weed will be sold. Uruguayan pharmacies are expected to start selling marijuana in the second half of this year.
- For more details on Uruguay’s marijuana law check out our coverage:
- Uruguayan President on Marijuana: ‘I Want to Rob That Illegal Business Market’
Manuel Rueda is a correspondent for Fusion, covering Mexico and South America. He travels from donkey festivals, to salsa clubs to steamy places with cartel activity.