2 Global News Post 1
huff948
Tun, Soe Zeya. (2022). [Cannabis plant in Bangkok, Thailand]. Retrieved January 28, 2023, from https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/argentina-sets-high-hopes-cannabis-exports-with-budding-new-agency-2023-01-26/
The article details the growth of Argentina’s cannabis industry with the establishment of its first federal agency regulating cannabis, ARICCAME (Agencia Regulatoria de la Industria del Cáñamo y del Cannabis Medicinal). It interviews experts in the field, who all say that the establishment of this new agency will greatly benefit Argentina’s inflation-ravaged economy, opening up a new line of profits for the government and the people of the country. It mentions how the industry will be a major development for the country, both on a national and international level as it opens up the possibility for trade with other countries and an increase in profits. The founding of the agency will set the stage for creating many new jobs, as well as increasing the technological progress to be found with marijuana production. The article states that Argentina first legalized cannabis oil for medicinal use in 2017, and has been taking steps to increasingly legalize it since then, with the country allowing growth at home for medicinal use in 2020.
The primary evidence used in the article was interviews from people involved in the project–since it was a shorter article, there are only two interviews used, one from Argentina’s Economy Minister and the other from the man who will lead the agency. It includes some of the history of cannabis legalization in Argentina, as well as legalization efforts in similar countries like Colómbia and Uruguay.
The article is very interesting contextually, because it comes among a growing movement toward cannabis legalization at an international level. This tide of popular opinion has apparently come to Argentina and South America as well, meaning that cannabis legalization is increasingly popular. Along these lines, the article itself had a distinct pro-legalization tilt, even if it did not outright say anything: the people they interviewed were people who directly favored the project, and the article mentioned how important the effort is for Argentina’s economy. It also predominantly dealt with elites involved, rather than including a working-class perspective of the people who would benefit from the jobs created with this new industry.