Uruguay’s President Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize for Legalizing Marijuana

grokit

well-worn member
Feb 06, 2014
2.7-nobel-peace-prize-medal.jpg

Late last year, President Jose Mujica made Uruguay the first country to fully legalize marijuana for recreational use. Now, the President has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his actions.

President Mujica’s candidacy for the Nobel Prize has been endorsed by the Drugs PEace Institute, as well as the PlantaTuPlanta (the collective of Uruguayan voters), the Latin American Coalition of Cannabis Activists, and members of Mujica’s political party, the Frente Amplio.
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The Drugs Peace Institute said that Mujica’s stand against the UN-led prohibition of mind-altering substances is a “symbol of a hand outstretched, of a new era in a divided world.”
 
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CarolKing

Singer of songs and a vapor connoisseur
I see that cannabis is not against the law in North Korea. They only put you in prison if they believe you are a spy or you don't agree with the president. Dennis Rodman and Lil Kim probably smoked a few bowls. Cannabis grows wild in North Korea (probably not fit for consumption).

Uruguay looks like a wonderful place to visit. More countries are relaxing their laws on cannabis, like Argentina, some areas in Austrailia, Columbia and Nepal. Holland knows best that cannabis didn't ruin a country.

I vote for Jose Mujica for Nobel Peace Prize. Peace brother.
 
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Crohnie

Crohn's Warrior
I see that cannabis is not against the law in North Korea. They only put you in prison if they believe you are a spy or you don't agree with the president. Dennis Rodman and Lil Kim probably smoked a few bowls. Cannabis grows wild in North Korea (probably not fit for consumption).

Uruguay looks like a wonderful place to visit. More countries are relaxing their laws on cannabis, like Argentina, some areas in Austrailia, Columbia and Nepal. Holland knows best that cannabis didn't ruin a country.

I vote for Jose Mujica for Nobel Peace Prize. Peace brother.
Good catch! Very few people know that marijuana's never been illegal in North Korea.
 

vorrange

Vapor.wise
Well, yes... but have you read what i posted? It says that despite all that, not everything is peachy in Uruguay and many people are not happy with him.
 
vorrange,

tuk

Well-Known Member
Well, yes... but have you read what i posted? It says that despite all that, not everything is peachy in Uruguay and many people are not happy with him.

The article is anecdotal at best.

When referencing sources it says things like:

asked my grandmother (who lives in Uruguay) if it was true...

My mom’s cousin...

The next day I saw three people on Facebook (there were most likely more I didn’t see) who posted...

& then comes up with this beauty:

My brother gave me the idea of asking people in the street about their opinion of Mujica rather than just the people in my family.

Spoiler Alert!
At the end of the article he regains his senses:

As I was hearing all these issues and opinions, I couldn’t help but think that every country has its problems. I did not want to pass any personal judgments on Mujica from what I heard because I don’t believe I could ever have a valid opinion on the topic without living in Uruguay.
 

vorrange

Vapor.wise
He was talking of people who lived in Uruguay. If i ask you something about the UK, is that anedoctal or do you base your opinion on actual facts?

Because much of what was said in the article seems easy to prove/unprove. It's just a whole different side of Mujica that i haven't heard as of yet and considering the backlash he is getting from the UN and other countries, i find weird that it didn't surfaced yet and the articles praising his devotion and frugal lifestyle are out every week.


I'm not saying it's true. But you're being too quick at downplaying what was written.


Read the text, put it on google translator if you don't understand spanish:

https://secure.avaaz.org/es/petitio..._Jose_Mujica_para_el_Nobel_de_la_Paz/?aqrmkdb


I had also heard before seeing this something about biotech companies being behind Uruguay legalization.
 
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vorrange

Vapor.wise
guerrilla warfare is not terrorism. It is just the oposite side of a certain country "official" military forces.

My point is... could there be more in this whole legalization than meets the eye? I thought everyone in Uruguay liked Mujica but apparently they don't. Why is that?
 

RUDE BOY

Space is the Place
@vorrange I have never really heard of any leader of any country having 100% approval rating. And as time goes by the people of Uruguay slowly forget what it was like in the 1970s and 80s and nit-pick like we do our leaders.


Life goes on and people get comfortable, then they bitch because it can always be 'Better'.
 

vorrange

Vapor.wise
To me this goes beyond the Nobel Prize... after Obama winning the Nobel while at the same time sending troops and drones to the middle east, i feel it is starting to become a joke and losing its meaning.

This reminds me of a story many already know:

A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field. While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was. The dung was actually thawing him out!
He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, promptly dug him out and ate him.

Moral of the story:

(1) Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy.

(2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend.

(3) And when you're in deep shit, it's smart to keep your mouth shut!


So, i wonder if, despite doing good by legalizing, is he our friend and with the best interests at heart?


I'm not speaking of 100% approval ratings...

And according to what i've read, Uruguay is going worse now that he's in office and his policies are not working.


Do you guys just blindly accept what you read on the news? I like to read from both sides and then make up my mind. And there are odd things about Mujica, that's all.
I'm questioning not making clear affirmations about anything.
 

grokit

well-worn member
I can certainly tell that the capitalists are unhappy with him;
here's another perspective:

Jose Mujica of Uruguay:
The World’s Most Fascinating President?

By Cathy Brown

The World’s Coolest President?

In my opinion, no matter where you live in the world, chances are your President or leader is not nearly as cool or compassionate as Uruguay’s. Jose Mujica puts all others to shame with his rebellious, unconventional tactics that show that he really understands the plight of his people. In fact, he purposefully puts and keeps himself in their shoes.

Elected in 2009, Mujica spent the 1960s and 1970s as part of the Uruguayan guerrilla Tupamaros, a leftist armed group inspired by the Cuban revolution. Shot six times, he went on spend 14 years in prison, including more than a decade in horrific solitary confinement, often in a hole in the ground. During that time, he would go more than a year at a time without bathing. He was freed in 1985 when Uruguay returned to democracy.

Mujica says that those years in jail were critical in shaping his outlook on life. In a deliberate political and social statement, Mujica, 77, shunned the refined and elegant Presidential Mansion, with its staff of 42, choosing to remain instead in the same farm home where he and his wife have lived for years, where they grow chrysanthemums for sale in local markets. Laundry is strung outside the house. The water comes from a well in a yard, overgrown with weeds. His security detail? Two plainclothes officers parked on a dirt road, and Manuela, a three-legged dog.

As for having no use for presidential properties, he also upset some many by selling off a seaside presidential residence, calling the property “useless.”

His net worth upon taking office in 2010? The value of the ancient VW Beetle he drives, their humble home, plus half of what his wife’s farm equipment is worth. He donates about 90 % of his salary, largely to a program for expanding housing for the poor, leaving him with roughly $800 a month of his salary in line with the average Uruguayan’s income). He said he and his wife, Senator Lucía Topolansky, a former guerrilla who was also imprisoned, do not need much to live on.

His low-key radicalism — a huge change from his days employing weapons in an effort to overthrow the government — exemplifies Uruguay’s position as quite possibly Latin America’s most socially liberal country. (Since he took office in 2010, Uruguay has drawn attention for seeking to legalize marijuana and same-sex marriage, while promoting abortion rights laws and dramatically increasing the use of renewable energy sources like wind and biomass).

For democracy to function properly, Mujica argues, elected leaders should be taken down a notch.

“We have done everything possible to make the presidency less venerated,” Mr. Mujica has said.

He acknowledges that his lifestyle choices might seem unusual, but that it has been a conscious choice to forgo the trappings of power and wealth. Quoting the Roman court-philosopher Seneca, Mr. Mujica said, “It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, who is poor.”

Polls show that his approval ratings have been declining over his support of marijuana legalization, but “I don’t give a damn,” insisted Mr. Mujica. “If I worried about pollsters, I wouldn’t be president,” he said.

He laments that so many societies considered economic growth a priority, calling this “a problem for our civilization” because of the demands on the planet’s resources. (Interestingly enough, Uruguay’s economy is expanding at an estimated annual rate of 3.6 percent.) Mujica accuses most world leaders of having a “blind obsession to achieve growth with consumption, as if the contrary would mean the end of the world”.

“I’m called ‘the poorest president’, but I don’t feel poor. Poor people are those who only work to try to keep an expensive lifestyle, and always want more and more. This is a matter of freedom. If you don’t have many possessions then you don’t need to work all your life like a slave to sustain them, and therefore you have more time for yourself,” he says.”I may appear to be an eccentric old man… But this is a free choice.”
 

vorrange

Vapor.wise
They don't need much to live on but his wife has assets evaluated in 430,000USD. Or so i read.

I agree with everything he says and he is a breath of fresh air in politicians nowadays.

But i fail to see the different perspective?
It is the same as what is being said all along. Poorest president, does right for his people, etc etc.

What i find strange is why people keep praising him and his country and his people are growing displeased with him. One version or the other is being manipulated, perhaps both are somewhat inacurate.

And why is he "friends" with George Soros? I do not like that guy one bit.
 
vorrange,

aesthyrian

Blaaaaah
Polls show that his approval ratings have been declining over his support of marijuana legalization, but “I don’t give a damn,” insisted Mr. Mujica. “If I worried about pollsters, I wouldn’t be president,” he said.

My hero. :love:
 
aesthyrian,

vorrange

Vapor.wise
Hugo Chavez is another one that is hard to read. He seemed to start by doing right by his people but then, he just protected private companies and destroyed the work market, health and education.

I truly hope Mujica is one of the good guys. We could use some of those in high places.
 

Zangano Cruel

IG zan.cru (code) zancru (5% NV checkout discount)
I can't have an unbiased opinion at the matter. I'm a social democrat myself . I support left wing always.
My Uruguay has been ruled by right wing government for more than 90 years or so. I left Uruguay in 2002. Moved to Costa Rica till 2008. Living in the US from then...
Living in the US taught me how easy is to get what I want if I try hard. The only problem with that, is no matter how hard I try to be good to the planet and society, I still live in a country that is known to control the world by any means, peacefully and the other way too :uhoh:
So no matter how hippie or yuppie I am, I still physically live in the US. Or any other "developed" country...
So I'm still a part of the problem.
If I want change, I'll move to where I'll want to make a change. I'll go to Africa, or Central or South America, or Asia. Never been to Africa or Asia, but my 3 Americas already showed me enough unfairness. Nothing to be changed in South and Central... But here in North America, here I believe I'm going to start trying to understand people and see if I can understand why history is written by the winners.
My point is, even Mujica needs to agree with globalization.
If we fight against the G8 or the rest of the world, we'll end like Cuba.
I feel sometimes betraying my own ideals here.
I don't want to keep going on this because is a can of worms.
Politics, religion, sexuality are really interesting topics and can lead to serious biased discussions.

Let's be happy that Mujica is no afraid of legalizing :bigleaf:
 
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vorrange

Vapor.wise
Every person sees the world by their eyes and experience, that's inevitable. Some are just better at understanding others.

Feel free to say what you want, no judgment, just ferocious but interesting (i hope!) argument if it depends on me ;)

I like Mujica so far, i just been noticing some weird stuff like this Avaaz petition from a uruguaian saying he does not deserve the Nobel, plus the fact that is wife is rich and they have a farm and he only has 2000dollars in the bank (not that it should mean anything wrong, but you have to admit it's weird. ), and his policies are not working so good and there are complaints that money is being spent on poor people and in trying to do good but many things are getting worse, people stop working because they don't have to (??).

I just wanted to here an opinion that was imparcial about what is the deal with Mujica and what is happening in Uruguai and not coming from newspapers. I don't trust half what they write. When there is an article or news report about something i'm familiar about, there is always gross exagerations, imprecisions, one sided views. How do i trust what i read 100% if i don't know about the subject 100%?


And yeah, i am hoping he's for real and not a shill? Too many shills in politics nowadays.
 
vorrange,

grokit

well-worn member
I watched a documentary about swaziland this morning, and they are going through the same type of thing. Many of the growers don't want marijuana legalized, because of the effect of more people growing it on the marketplace. Also most of these growers don't use their product, they see it as an evil necessity; because of its illegal status, it isn't taxed by the monarch like other agricultural crops so it makes ends meet better. But the monarch sees pot as a way to give some economic autonomy to more of his people, so decriminalization/legalization is happening.
 
grokit,
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