Legal highs make Uruguay a beacon for marijuana research

A year ago, biophysicist Nelson Bracesco was studying yerba mate, a popular caffeine-laden infusion brewed in South America. But a legal about-face in his home country has given his research an edgier focus. Last December, attempting to head off violent crime associated with drug trafficking, Uruguay became the first country to legalize the production, sale, and use of marijuana for both recreational and medical purposes; the government finalized key regulations last month. Legally unshackled, Bracesco and his colleagues at the medical school of Uruguay's University of the Republic (Udelar) in Montevideo are launching a lab dedicated to marijuana's chemistry, genetics, medical uses, and side effects.

Marijuana activists light up in Montevideo. Matilda Campodonico/AP PHOTO