By Li Hongmei

Uruguay's President Jose "Pepe" Mujica has been nominated for this year's Nobel Peace Prize for legalization of marijuana in his country, a move that has been described as "a tool for peace and understanding."

In late December Uruguay became the first nation in the modern world to fully legalize the production and sale of cannabis. Under the new law, which comes into effect in April, Uruguayans will be able to buy marijuana at the drug store, or will be allowed to grow their own.

Mujica's stand against the UN-led War On Drugs is a "symbol of a hand outstretched, of a new era in a divided world," according to the Drugs Peace Institute.

"It is a promise to bridge the gap between defiant marijuana consumers and the prohibiting society. Hopefully, the start of the acceptance of this consumption by society and the concomitant development of understanding of its use as a natural medicine, historically used for spiritual liberation, might initiate a process of healing in a world, very confused and deeply divided, over its religious legacy," reads the Dutch nongovernmental organization's website.

Uruguay will legalise not only cannabis consumption but, crucially, its production and sale. Users must be over 18 and registered Uruguayans. While small quantities can be grown privately, firms will produce cannabis under state licence and prices will be set to undercut traffickers. The country does not have a problem on the scale of Colombia or Mexico - just 10 percent of adults admit to using cannabis - and stresses that the measure is experimental.

The law will forbid foreigners from buying marijuana. In an attempt to undercut the black market price of $1.40 a gram, government marijuana will be priced at $1 a gram.

Mujica made it into the top 10 finalists for the Nobel Peace Prize last year. The 2013 Prize was awarded to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.