Uruguay’s Cannabis Legalization Leads to Decrease in Crime

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]U[/dropcap]ruguay, the first country to federally legalize cannabis for its residents, has found that crime has decreased by 20 percent since legalization took effect in 2017. However, despite the positive news of lessened crime rates, the country is trying to keep its cannabis in the hands of residents only, rather than tourists.

Currently, residents 18 and over, with government registration, can consume cannabis in public and are permitted to grow up to six plants at home, or purchase cannabis from government-approved sources. The government only allows cannabis clubs to have between 15 and 45 members at most, and those who cultivate at home or are involved in a club are subject to routine checks to make sure that the laws are being followed. Cannabis club members can only withdraw a maximum of 40 grams per month.

Uruguayan legalization had a rough start when the potency of the first government-licensed crops disappointed residents with only a two percent THC content. The country also had problems with banks financing cannabis companies and worrying about international banking laws,  so they were switched to a cash-only basis.

Unfortunately, the legal status for cannabis only applies to legal residents of Uruguay and the county is deals with the influx of tourism, especially the summer months, and having to deter locals from selling to visitors illegally. “Visitors arrive here hoping to enjoy freedom in one of the most liberal countries in the world, so they feel disappointed when they find out they can’t buy legal marijuana,” said Eduardo Blasina, president of Montevideo’s cannabis museum. “They end up buying it on the street, which contradicts the whole point of the law, which is to cut traffickers out of the business.”

The government has already shut down tours at community nurseries that tried to profit from a cannabis-seeking tourist influx, and many beachgoers in possession on cannabis admit they acquired it illegally, according to Revista Forum.

“We passed the idea of avant-garde country, and the foreigner arrives here and cannot buy?” said Montevideo’s Cannabis Museum director, Eduardo Balsina. “It is wrong because somehow it will arrive at the product, through an illegal market, which is precisely what one wanted to combat.”