In Uruguay began legal sales of marijuana
Uncategorized July 19, 2017
In Uruguay on Wednesday, July 19, started legal sales of marijuana in 16 pharmacies, reports AP. This South American country became the first in the world to fully legalize marijuana – namely, it allowed the cultivation and sale under state control of registered customers.
As transfers BBC, customers can choose from two kinds of marijuana, called Alpha 1 and Beta 1. Both contain 2% THC – the psychoactive component of marijuana.
Pre-registered customers can buy up to 10 grams of two types of drugs in a week. According to the Uruguayan state Institute of cannabis, about five thousand people have registered as consumers. 70% of them are men, most of whom are aged 30 to 44. Almost 2/3 of them live in the capital Montevideo.
The price is $ 1.30 per gram, cheaper than the dealers. Five grams is 187 Uruguayan pesos (6.50 dollars).
Authorities hope to deprive the traffickers of income in the amount of about seven million dollars a year, reports DW.
The production of marijuana in Uruguay, organized under state control. The two companies are allowed to grow in the year two tons of cannabis.
The government has identified two more ways to legally obtain marijuana. Citizens have the right to home grow up to six cannabis plants or join “clubs” that together grow hemp. Club members are allowed to consume up to 480 grams of cannabis per year.
Pharmacies will be sold marijuana made from hemp, which is grown on fields owned by the state.
The bill is fully laws on decriminalization of the cultivation, sale, purchase and use of marijuana, the Senate of Uruguay approved on 10 December 2013. The then President of Uruguay, josé Mujica, signed the law, was nominated for it in 2014 for the Nobel peace prize.
To avoid drug tourism, to register as a consumer is only allowed to citizens and residents of Uruguay – foreigners lived in the country for more than a year.
The consumption of marijuana is prohibited at work, in public places and while driving. Critics of the new law see the main problem is the complexity of control the legal sale of the drug and fear that cheap marijuana will be resold on the black market.
Countries where marijuana is partially legalized, is the Netherlands, Canada, North Korea, Czech Republic, Georgia, Spain, Portugal and some States of the USA.