Uruguay has become the world's first country to legalize marijuana on a national scale after the majority of the nation's Senate House approved the proposal on Tuesday. Local senators believe that this move will help them boost the country's tourism and agriculture industries and crackdown on illegal drugs. Some government officials even think that "many countries of Latin America, and many governments, will take this law as an example."

However, for an international drug watch group, the Uruguayan government broke a treaty created to prevent the improper use of such plant. According to Vienna-based International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), Uruguay's decision to legalize the sell and use of marijuana violated an international convention called the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.

"Cannabis is controlled under the 1961 Convention, which requires States Parties to limit its use to medical and scientific purposes, due to its dependence-producing potential," INCB president Raymond Yans said in a press release.

Yans was even surprised that Montevideo pushed through with the legislation despite the fact that they are a member of the 1961 convention.

The INCB describes itself as an independent body that charged with promoting and monitoring compliance with the three international drug control conventions.

However, Uruguayan officials insisted they have enough laws and regulations to ensure that the handling of the market for marijuana won't get out of hand.

"We are convinced that we can apply our own policy to drugs in compliance with international norms," said Roberto Conde, a senator in Uruguay's governing Broad Front coalition.

Marijuana legalization didn't come off that easy as it only won by a slim margin at the Senate, garnering 16 YES votes against 13 NOs. In a public poll, more Uruguayans said they are opposed with such law.

Under the law, as reported by the New York Times, the government "would create a state-run Institute for the Regulation and Control of Cannabis to oversee the planting, harvesting and sale of marijuana. The drug would be sold at pharmacies, with buyers signing up in a state registry, a process enabling them to purchase up to 40 grams a month at $1 a gram."