Uruguay, the first country in the world to legalize cannabis for adults in 2013, opened cannabis sales four years later in 2017. To mark the sixth anniversary of the start of adult cannabis sales in Uruguay, the Cannabis Regulation and Control Institute (IRCCA), Uruguay’s cannabis regulatory body, published data last week on cannabis sales in pharmacies. Unlike the legalization of cannabis in Canada or the 23 US states, Uruguay has opted for a model where consumers can buy cannabis in pharmacies, participate in a cannabis club, or grow it at home. Pharmacy sales are subsidized so that cannabis does not cost more than $1.30 per gram and are only made after registration in a database. The clubs, for their part, have 15 to 45 members
and produce their own cannabis. Between July 19, 2017, and July 19, 2023, approximately
75,000 residents registered in some way with the government’s cannabis program, of whom61,509 registered to purchase legal cannabis, mostly through pharmacies, and10,486 through the approximately 300 Clubs
. During this period, Uruguayan pharmacies sold 10,693,210 grams of cannabis , according to IRCA. 14,592 are registered as cultivating cannabis at home.
On the production side, only three companies operating in Uruguay currently have the ability to cultivate and distribute cannabis through 37 pharmacies authorizedto sell cannabis to registered citizens. A historic but limited legalization While the announcement of cannabis legalization in Uruguay met with some opposition, such as from Russia and the United Nations which stated that it was a flagrant violation of the International Convention Regarding narcotics, the small country, then led by President Jose Pepe Mujica, pursued its project to the end. It is nevertheless important to note that the Uruguayan model has some drawbacks that have led to a relatively small number of registered consumers in this market, partly because many residents do not want to be registered in government databases as cannabis users or growers and therefore continue to cultivate or purchase cannabis illegally.
Another drawback of the Uruguayan model of selling cannabis in pharmacies is the limited selection of varieties on the legal market, which includes only three varieties (one of which was added very recently), with one more to be added at the end of 2023. Experts now estimate that only half of cannabis consumption takes place on the legal market and that the main suppliers are now small-scale growers who cultivate without being registered and supply a limited, local circle of consumers. However, according to a report published in 2020, legalization has not led to an increase in cannabis use among Uruguayan teenagers. Source: https://www.newsweed.fr/6-ans-uruguay-vente-cannabis-recreatif/
