Uruguayan pharmacies will start selling cannabis

ON THE outskirts of Libertad, a small town an hour’s drive from Montevideo, barbed wire and guard towers surround a ten-hectare plot of state-owned land. Inside, greenhouses shelter thousands of marijuana plants. These belong to ICC and Simbiosys, the two firms licensed by Uruguay’s government to grow cannabis for recreational use. Uruguayans will soon be able to sample their product. Since May 2nd they have been able to register at the post office as prospective customers for the corporate weed, which will be sold through pharmacies from July.

That will be the last and most important stage of a long process. In 2013 the senate voted to legalise marijuana and regulate its production and sale, making Uruguay the first country to do so. (Canada proposed a bill to legalise cannabis for recreational use on April 13th.) Uruguay’s goal is to stamp out the black market, controlled mainly by Paraguayan smugglers, without encouraging more consumption. Registered Uruguayans (but not visitors) will be able to get the drug in one of three ways. They can grow up to six plants at home; join a club, where 45 members can cultivate as many as 99 plants; or buy it in pharmacies. All consumers are restricted to 40g (1.4 ounces) a month, enough to roll a joint or two a day. About 10% of adults smoke at least once a year.