Vice Reporter Lights Up Legal Weed while Interviewing Uruguayan President

Well, this has got to be a first. A Vice reporter, Krishna Andavolu, interviewed Jose Mujica, Uruguay’s 78-year-old president, at his farm and began the interview by lighting up a joint. Vice is making a documentary on the legalization of weed in Uruguay, and this scene is part of it.

President Mujica appears amused by Andavolu’s action, yet his words express disapproval of marijuana abuse. On December 24, 2013, Mujica pushed a law through congress to fully legalize the production, sale and consumption of marijuana in Uruguay, making it the first country in the world to do so. The government still has some work to do, since it enables pharmacies to sell the drug but only under specific regulations which have not yet been finalized. Uruguayan pharmacies are expecting to begin selling the product later this year.

Mujica believes that legalization will put an end to drug trafficking in Uruguay.