Uruguay to track pot by genetic markers

In this Dec. 10, 2013 file photo, Julio Calzada, head of Uruguay’s National Drugs Board, watches senators debate the legalization of marijuana in Montevideo, Uruguay.

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — Uruguay’s drug czar says every legal marijuana plant in Uruguay will be registered and tracked using radio frequency tags, and that state-grown marijuana will be cloned to include genetic markers, making sure that what’s grown here, stays here.

That’s a much tougher tracking system than those imposed in Colorado and Washington, which recently legalized marijuana use. Unlike those U.S. states, Uruguay wants authorities to be able to test the pot in any drug user’s possession to determine if it came from a registered, legal source.

Colorado and Washington also are trying to tag and track plants grown for commercial use. But neither state plans to track the pot once sold. These states allow adults over 21 to possess up to 1 ounce (28 grams), without requiring them to prove they got it from a legal source. Many other U.S. states with medical marijuana laws allow pot possession by licensed patients, and their police have no standard way of knowing where the product came from or how a user got it.

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