The First Year of Uruguay’s Legal Cannabis Market

espite legalizing cannabis use just before
market start in Colorado—which officially took place in September of 2013— Uruguay
has yet to begin legal sales of the substance.

However, about 500 cannabis clubs have
started all over the country, a trade expo focusing on medical and industrial
uses of the drug drew 6,000 attendees and 1,200 people have registered to grow
cannabis at home.

This alone has dramatically curtailed, if
not, heavily undercut drug cartels in the country; this being one of the top
reasons the Uruguayan government legalized cannabis in the first place. 

On the business side of the equation, the
government is taking its time with licensing and approvals.  Late last summer 20 companies submitted bids
to the government for growing licenses. 
Five companies from that group will receive final approval to proceed,
but that go ahead has not been issued yet.

In Uruguay, cannabis will be sold via a
pharmacy/dispensary infrastructure as it now stands. Many members of the
profession, including those belonging to the Association of Chemistry and
Pharmacy of Uruguay, have threatened to quit if this becomes law.

This is more of a visceral reaction than
seen in Israel late last year when the government decided (and announced to
physicians via the mainstream press) that regular general practitioners would
be required to write prescriptions for cannabis.  Chronic pain centers where distribution had
previously occurred are now overwhelmed with patients.

The government has pledged to make
cannabis available at $1.00 a gram to compete with black market pricing. This,
contrasted to the average of $20 per gram in Colorado, is pretty big news.