Is anyone going to Colonia anytime soon?

[Paola_Briceno]

Gary thank u so much for taking the time to write me!!! your message was very informative!! As for the rest of u who took the time to write, THANK U SOO MUCH for the helpful tips!!!

 

[Crema Americana]

really? I wont get in trouble? I'm planing to stay for a year or so and I dont want to have an outrageous overstay fee!

As far as I know and my own personal experience, the overstay fee is the same if you overstay 1 day, 3 months, or a year. The process of paying the fee is very routine (if I remember correctly I believe it's 300 pesos or 100 dollars)... I've never gotten "in trouble" or was even made to feel like I did something wrong. You're just sent to another area to pay, sign a form, and that's about it. I suppose it's true that they could hike fines up ten fold, but they could also suddenly start refusing reentry without an announcement... anything is a risk, I suppose. Either situation is unlikely.

In any case, if you feel like traveling a bit, seeing Uruguay at least once could be worthwhile. Colonia is a nice little town to spend the day in, but there isn't a whole lot there. The first time I went it was nice... the second, we were bored (and it was cold and raining buckets... this isn't the best time of year to go so make sure you check the weather before booking. ) Montevideo might be a more exciting place to visit.

 

[pompeygazza]

Gary thank u so much for taking the time to write me!!! your message was very informative!! As for the rest of u who took the time to write, THANK U SOO MUCH for the helpful tips!!!

You're welcome! And Eclair you have a point - they could also start refusing re-entry, or even slap on a fee. Anything could happen. Also, it's true that the situation is also different for anyone planning to stay for more than 180 days. When I re-entered Argentina, the officials checked every page of my passport to see how many stamps I had.

 

[surfing]

As far as I know and my own personal experience, the overstay fee is the same if you overstay 1 day, 3 months, or a year. The process of paying the fee is very routine (if I remember correctly I believe it's 300 pesos or 100 dollars)... I've never gotten "in trouble" or was even made to feel like I did something wrong. You're just sent to another area to pay, sign a form, and that's about it. I suppose it's true that they could hike fines up ten fold, but they could also suddenly start refusing reentry without an announcement... anything is a risk, I suppose. Either situation is unlikely.

In any case, if you feel like traveling a bit, seeing Uruguay at least once could be worthwhile. Colonia is a nice little town to spend the day in, but there isn't a whole lot there. The first time I went it was nice... the second, we were bored (and it was cold and raining buckets... this isn't the best time of year to go so make sure you check the weather before booking. ) Montevideo might be a more exciting place to visit.

300 pesos or 100 dollars? That's quite an exchange rate!

 

[Crema Americana]

Well last time I paid was a while ago. But yes, you're not going to get the blue rate in the airport. I would of course suggest paying in pesos.

 

[scotttswan]

Colonia might soon become the Amsterdam of South America

 

[ElQueso]

I'm impressed! I do wonder what their limit will be that will qualify someone as an addict, and how that may impact being able to do things like bars selling to people who come in - i.e., if you have to be registered to buy, I wonder if foreigners, for example, will be able to partake legally.

But the taxing part of it is something that obviously they are looking at as a government revenue source. Much better than conducting a "war" against pot users and sellers and creating one of the very problems they supposedly are trying to solve - i.e., criminals supplying instead of regular businesses.

I'm a believer in decriminalization of marijuana - aside from the physical problems of ingesting smoke (which can be gotten around a number of ways) marijuana is much less dangerous than the poison sold legally in most countries around the world - alcohol.

No one EVER died of an overdose by smoking marijuana. Nor from kidney failure, etc...

EDIT: As plentiful and tolerated as pot here is (hardly a day goes by that I don't pass someone in San Martin Plaza, or even walking down the street at night, toking away), I wonder if Argentina, strapped for tax revenue, won't start to think similarly? Nah, no way...too logical.

 

[scotttswan]

I'm impressed! I do wonder what their limit will be that will qualify someone as an addict, and how that may impact being able to do things like bars selling to people who come in - i.e., if you have to be registered to buy, I wonder if foreigners, for example, will be able to partake legally.

But the taxing part of it is something that obviously they are looking at as a government revenue source. Much better than conducting a "war" against pot users and sellers and creating the very problem they supposedly are trying to solve - i.e., criminals supplying instead of regular businesses.

I'm a believer in decriminalization of marijuana - aside from the physical problems of ingesting smoke (which can be gotten around a number of ways) marijuana is much less dangerous than the legal poison sold legally in most countries around the world - alcohol.

No one EVER died of an overdose by smoking marijuana. Nor from kidney failure, etc...

There are mental problems associated with weed but i agree, prohibition helps no one.

 

[ElQueso]

There are mental problems associated with weed but i agree, prohibition helps no one.

Alcohol kills brain cells as well - wasn't saying it didn't have any detrimental effect. But the overall detrimental effects of marijuana are less than that of alcohol. Plus alcohol can be highly physically addictive, whereas weed is just mentally addictive.

Another thing that cracks me up about the prohibition on pot - the "gateway drug" aspect. Well, if it isn't criminal and shunned, it sure as hell can't be any more of a gateway to other drugs that alcohol is...

I have a hard time with some of these issues, to be sure. For example, they mention the crack down (no pun intended) of cheap cocaine available. From a Libertarian standpoint, we should let evolution take care of such uses while people make individual decisions about their own lives. From a societal standpoint, we should be concerned about the death and addiction of the citizenry - but to what point of lost individual rights.

Both alcohol and marijuana can be looked at from the same viewpoint, but at least with those two it seems easy to say - no prohibition. For me, anyway.

 

[Matt84]

the cultural load on this issues is immense.

wine is of paramount holy importance in Judaism and Catholicism. And wine, and alcohol can thoroughly destroy the body (and mind).

Weed was probably of paramount religious or magic importance for the pre Christian pagans. It induces some idiocy, but even modern medicine sees more medical benefits in MJ than the cholesterol controlling properties of a tablespoon of liquor or the 'tannins' in red wine.

Of course as a drug, alcohol wins, you can get really f--ked with that and be sure that you'll fall asleep (maybe forever).

Today in Uruguay the ex Communist government might be trying to eliminate or alleviate a system that criminalized poverty because kids from poor backgrounds don't have private property to toke freely, whereas the kids of Paez Vilaro can do the same freely in their beachfront acres.

All in all it's good to see that a thread about someone asking for honest simple help has taken the traditional BAX turn.