Uruguay not seen setting drug liberalisation trend: U.N. official

By Fredrik Dahl and Derek Brooks VIENNA (Reuters) – The United Nations anti-drugs chief said on Friday he did not see – for now at least – Uruguay setting a trend for countries to legalise the cultivation, sale and smoking of marijuana. In a move being closely watched by other nations discussing drug liberalization, Uruguay’s parliament in December approved a bill to legalise and regulate the production and sale of marijuana – the first country to do so. Yury Fedotov, executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said that for now he did not see other countries following Uruguay’s example. “So far I don’t see any other countries, or group of countries, that may follow the route which has been taken by Uruguay,” he told a news conference.