MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) - The government of Uruguay makes Scotch whisky. It also makes and sells rum, vodka and cognac, and has done so for nearly a century. Many people consider this sideline of the state to be an historical accident - a wasteful and even eccentric contradiction.

But President Jose Mujica said Uruguay's long experience at the center of the nation's liquor business makes it more than capable of dominating another substance: marijuana.

Final Senate approval of Uruguay's marijuana law is expected by late September, and the government plans to license growers, sellers and users as quickly as possible thereafter to protect them from criminal drug traffickers, ruling party Sen. Lucia Topolansky, who is also Uruguay's first lady, told The Associated Press in an interview.

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(AP) - URUGUAYAN President Jose Mujica says his government's long experience as a maker and seller of liquor makes it more than capable of dominating another substance: marijuana.

Final approval of Uruguay's marijuana law is expected this month, and the government plans to license growers, sellers and users as quickly as possible thereafter to protect them from criminal drug traffickers, ruling party Sen. Lucia Topolansky, who is also Uruguay's first lady, said.

The law makes the government alone responsible for producing and distributing a drug still considered illegal around the world.

The government says its goal is to lower marijuana consumption in Uruguay by strictly regulating a legal market for it.

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Country Set to Become First in World to Legalise Production and Sale of Marijuana, Says Uki Goni

The "weed brothers" have been turning away potential pot-buying customers from their tiny shop in Montevideo quite a lot recently. "They come about three times a day to ask if we're selling marijuana yet," say Juan and Enrique Tubino. They've had to put up a sign stating: "We don't sell marijuana." Matilde Campodonico/ap Open support ... a man smokes marijuana outside Uruguay's congress

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In the First Country Set to Legalise the Sale and Production of Marijuana, Opinion Is Divided on the Merits of the Pioneering Drug Experiment

The "weed brothers" have been turning away potential pot-buying customers from their tiny shop in downtown Montevideo quite a lot recently. "They come about three times a day to ask if we're selling marijuana yet," say Juan and Enrique Tubino. They've had to put up a sign stating: "We don't sell marijuana."

It's not just because the Tubino brothers keep their shop packed high with cannabis pipes, herb grinders and rolling paper or because of the giant green hookah in the display window that would-be customers are pouring in. The big excitement is because tiny Uruguay, a country so small that a single dialling code covers the whole territory, is about to become the first in the world to legalise the production and sale of marijuana. The Tubinos are hoping that their Yuyo Brothers shop ( yuyo is Spanish for weed) can capitalise on its fame among Montevideo cannabis users to sell legally what goes into the pipes.

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MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY (AP) - Uruguay is poised to become the first nation to create a legal, regulated marijuana market, encouraging growers and sellers to produce enough pot to keep users from depending on illegal drug traffickers.

The plan to put the government at the center of a legal marijuana industry has made it halfway through the congress, giving President Jose Mujica a long-sought victory in his effort to explore alternatives to the global war on drugs.

"I'm an old man ... I never smoked marijuana, but I have come to notice what the life of young people is like," Mujica said Thursday in a radio address defending the proposal that was approved late Wednesday by congress' lower house. "The consumption is already happening - it's around every corner, and it comes from a clandestine market that by nature has ferocious rules. It's a monopoly of mafias."

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MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) - Uruguay's unprecedented proposal to fight organized crime by creating a legal, government-licensed marijuana market was fiercely debated by lawmakers Wednesday, as the governing coalition counted every vote in hopes of winning passage in the lower house of Congress.

The Broad Front coalition has a more comfortable majority in the senate, so the house vote was seen as the best chance for opponents to block the law.

The plan was changed little in the six months since President Jose Mujica postponed voting to give supporters more time to rally public opinion. However, recent polls said two-thirds of Uruguayans remained opposed despite a "responsible regulation" campaign for the bill.

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Uruguay's Move Towards Legalising Cannabis Use Has Been Hailed As Groundbreaking, but Will Other South American Nations Follow Suit? Simeon Tegel Reports

Uruguay has taken a momentous step towards becoming the first country in the world to create a legal, national market for cannabis after the lower chamber of its Congress voted in favour of the groundbreaking plan. The Bill would allow consumers to either grow up to six plants at home or buy up to 40g per month of the soft drug produced by the government from licensed chemists for recreational or medical use. Previously, although possession of small amounts for personal consumption was not criminalised in the small South American nation, growing and selling it was against the law. PA As Uruguay's Congress vote in favour of legalising cannabis, a citizen enjoys the drug outside

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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Uruguay appears likely to become the first Latin American country to legalize marijuana after its lower house of congress approved a bill to regulate pot and sanction its consumption.

Uruguay's upper house, the Senate, still must pass the measure, but analysts believe the government-led majority favors the law and that it will be approved by October. President Jose Mujica is a strong proponent of the measure, which polls show is opposed by a majority of Uruguayans.

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(AP) - Uruguay's unprecedented plan to put the government at the center of a legal marijuana industry has made it halfway through congress, giving President Jose Mujica a long-sought victory in his effort to explore alternatives to the global war on drugs.

All 50 members of the governing Broad Front coalition approved the proposal in a party-line vote just before midnight Wednesday, keeping a narrow majority of the 96 lawmakers present after more than 13 hours of passionate debate.

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MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) - Uruguay's unprecedented plan to put the government at the center of a legal marijuana industry has made it halfway through congress, giving President Jose Mujica a long-sought victory in his effort to explore alternatives to the global war on drugs.

All 50 members of the governing Broad Front coalition approved the proposal in a party-line vote just before midnight Wednesday. The measure now goes to the Senate, where Mujica's coalition has a bigger majority and passage is expected to come within weeks for the proposal to make Uruguay the world's first nation to create a legal, regulated marijuana market.

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MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) - Uruguay's unprecedented plan to create a legal marijuana market was approved by 50-46 in the lower house of Congress just before midnight Wednesday after 13 hours of debate.

The measure goes to the Senate, where passage is expected to make Uruguay the first country in the world to license and regulate the production, distribution and sale of marijuana for adults.

Legislators said that legalizing marijuana would help fight organized crime and that the global war on drugs had been a costly and bloody failure.

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The country is poised to become the first in Latin America to legalize marijuana.

BUENOS AIRES - Uruguay appears likely to become the first Latin American country to legalize marijuana after its lower house of the congress approved a bill to regulate pot and sanction its consumption.

Uruguay's upper house, the senate, still must pass the measure, but analysts believe the government-led majority favors the bill and that it will be approved by October. President Jose Mujica is a strong proponent of the measure, which polls show is opposed by a majority of Uruguayans.

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Uruguay's lower house late Wednesday approved a bill to legalize marijuana, opening the way for the authorities to create one of Latin America's most ambitious nationwide endeavors in overhauling drug policy. After hours of debate, legislators in Uruguay's capital, Montevideo, voted 50-46 in favor of the legislation, which now goes to the Senate, where lawmakers have assured President Jose Mujica that they have a comfortable majority to approve the legislation.

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