Uruguay president Jose Mujica (Vice)

Vice documentary: “I’m smoking weed with the president of Uruguay” (video)

Journalists and readers alike appreciate a great lead, so props to Vice correspondent Krishna Andavolu, who starts his 30-minute documentary on marijuana in Uruguay by sparking up a joint, nodding to the man joining him on camera — a.k.a. the country’s president José Mujica — and saying, “I’m smoking weed with the president of Uruguay at his farm outside Montevideo.”

While Colorado was the first state in the U.S. to sell legal recreational marijuana, Uruguay is the first country in the world to legalize it. Since it’s happening on a federal level in Uruguay, there’s a lot to take in, and the Vice clip (above) is worth your while.

Speaking of Uruguay, Andavolu asks early on: “Is it going to be a smoker’s paradise or an overly regulated cash crop for the government?” Give it a look and find out.


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