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 Uruguay is set to become the first country to legalize marijuana use, cultivation and possession following a century of often authoritarian prohibition laws across the globe. In a landmark vote on President Jose Mujica’s recent proposal, the Uruguayan Congress overwhelmingly voted in favor of legalization and it is expected that the bill will pass through the Uruguayan Senate in the next few weeks.

The Uruguay vote comes amid a heightened regional skepticism about the benefits of prohibition and US-led military strategies to enforce repressive anti-narcotics legislation. Even a number of former and current Latin American leaders of the political right have called for the legalization of marijuana, presumably in recognition of the terrible socio-economic suffering the “war on drugs” has wrought over the last 40 years.

Significantly, the move by Mujica’s government is an indication of growing regional independence. John Kerry may still refer to Latin America as the US’ “backyard”, but it a part of the world increasingly escaping Washington’s hegemonic grasp.

After all, the war on drugs was principally an American invention, launched by President Nixon when he declared that narcotics were the country’s “public enemy number one”. Since then, the war on drugs has provided a pretext for military and political intervention in Latin America (and Asia) and increasingly brutal and repressive social control within the United States. The passing of the new law in Uruguay may be a preliminary step to dismantling a war whose fraudulence and hypocrisy easily compares with its Cold War and “war on terror” counterparts.

Last year, Washington State and Colorado approved laws which allow for the recreational use of marijuana and it is quite possible that other states will follow their example in the near future. These moves have the potential to halt some of the absurdities of the drug war, even if similar legislation is not adopted at the federal level.

These new laws also reflect a growing skepticism among the US public about the benefits of prohibition. Consider that in 1969, a year noted for the sudden increase in pot smoking among Americans, about 12% of the population favored legalization. Compare the rather conservative 1960s with attitudes today: a poll conducted this year by the Pew Research Center found that 52% of Americans favor the legalization of marijuana.