In a landmark decision, the Argentinian Supreme Court has ruled that it is ‘unconstitutional’ to punish those who use the drug cannabis.
The decision was reached following a case where five men were arrested in possession of marijuana cigarettes, the court ruling that “each adult is free to make lifestyle decisions without the intervention of the state.”
The decision, and the Supreme Courts refusal to advocate a decriminalisation of the drug, indicates that Argentine courts are looking to punish drug producers and traffickers rather than those who use them.
In This Story: Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country located mostly in the southern half of South America. Sharing the bulk of the Southern Cone with Chile to the west, the country is also bordered by Bolivia and Paraguay to the north, Brazil to the northeast, Uruguay and the South Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Drake Passage to the south.
With a mainland area of 2,780,400 km2 (1,073,500 sq mi), Argentina is the eighth-largest country in the world, the fourth largest in the Americas, the second largest in South America after Brazil, and the largest Spanish-speaking nation by area.
Argentina claims sovereignty over part of Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the Cannabis plant. Native to Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various traditional medicines for centuries.
