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Friday 3 May 2019

Cannabis and Uruguay

Uruguay made a landmark decision in 2013 to legalize cannabis for adult recreational use. In doing so it became the first nation to overturn the many decades long world wide prohibition on the cannabis plant that was unjustly initiated by the UK in its colonies in the 1870s and then scaled up by the US in the 1930s and pushed world wide through the UN in the subsequent years causing widespread harm to people and immeasurable damage to the environment. Uruguay's decision in the face of world wide opposition was commendable and showed that the will of the people of the country mattered most to its politicians. The key motivation for legalization was to improve public health and bring down violent crime as well as to tackle the black market for drugs. The decision by Uruguay paved the way for the subsequent legalization by Canada and the steps being taken across the world by many nations like Mexico, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Jamaica, New Zealand, etc.

Uruguay has a tradition of cannabis use like most South American countries with cannabis possibly having been brought to the continent by early ancestors migrating from Asia or the evolution of the 28 million year old plant through other forms of natural dispersion. The plant was part of Uruguay's culture and many people continued using it in spite of efforts to replace it with alcohol and dangerous drugs like cocaine and heroin. The remarkable resilience of the people who loved the plant and who were willing to continue growing and using it in the face of efforts by authorities to eliminate it is praise worthy. This public resoluteness ultimately led to the government changing cannabis laws and giving a thumbs down to the US led absurd world wide war on cannabis.

Today a citizen of Uruguay can procure cannabis from a government run dispensary after registering for it. Cannabis clubs can be formed by a group of individuals who can grow up to 99 cannabis plants for their collective use. An individual is allowed to grow up to six plants for personal use. Growers can sell their cannabis to the government run dispensaries. The overall cannabis landscape is overseen by a cannabis regulatory authority IRCCA. These changes are far reaching and in the context of a world consumed by reefer madness and insatiable greed to plunder the earth, one of the isolated shining lights of sanity.

Yet many people in Uruguay feel that this is not sufficient and refuse to register themselves to access cannabis. They prefer to grow cannabis beyond the limits stipulated by government saying it is  restrictive and no limits should be imposed on a personal freedom such as growing a natural plant which I fully agree with. Officially there are just a couple of licensed large scale growers to cater to public demand and there are shortages of supply due to which the government is looking to add more licensed growers. There is the risk  of multinational companies cornering large scale cultivation for export to North American and European markets resulting in shortages for local use that the country needs to guard against. Given this scenario, removing limits on personal cultivation quotas is important to ensure that the people of Uruguay, first and foremost, do not face shortages. This will also enable cannabis plant diversity and local indigenous varieties to be revived and to become sustainable. It has been a few years since legalization and if anything the people of Uruguay have proved that they can handle their cannabis responsibly so keeping limits on home growing quotas appears to be unnecessary regulation.

Uruguay is showing the world how cannabis legalization ultimately progresses within a country and disproving all the myths, propaganda and fears surrounding the plant created by those opposed to cannabis and the misplaced world wide justification for cannabis prohibition. Uruguayan society has not fallen apart and its people have not been consumed by reefer madness, crime and the degeneration of youth any more than any other nation in the world. Uruguay was one of the nations along with Norway to request that the UN vote in March 2019 on cannabis legalization not be delayed. So this remarkable South American country is also being vocal about cannabis legalization on the world stage and not just within its own boundaries thus being consistent in terms of its national and international policies which I consider exemplary. 

As a result of path breaking reforms by countries like Uruguay, in December 2020, the UN voted to remove cannabis from its most restricted Schedule IV category of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. It does however still remain in Schedule I, which is the least restrictive. This one move by the UN itself should be sufficient to bring about the recreational legalization of cannabis in every nation and an overhaul of national drug laws.

Listed below are articles taken from various media related to the above subject. Words in italics are the thoughts of your truly at the time of reading the article.   


'In 2013, the Government of Uruguay approved legislation (Law No. 19.172) regulating the cultivation, production, dispensing and use of cannabis for different purposes, including non-medical use. In accordance with the legislation, Uruguayan citizens or foreigners with permanent residence aged 18 and older can obtain cannabis for non-medical purposes by registering with the national Institute for the Regulation and Control of Cannabis and by choosing one of three options: (a) purchase in authorized pharmacies; (b) membership of a club; or (c) domestic cultivation. The quantity of cannabis permitted per person, obtained through any of the three mechanisms, cannot exceed 480 g per year. Initially, the Government of Uruguay set THC content at 2 per cent and CBD content at 6–7 per cent. In 2017, the Government introduced two new varieties, with a maximum THC content of 9 per cent and CBD content of no less than 3 per cent.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020,
https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf


The cannabis is most probably getting diverted to North American and European markets. Increase the limits for individual home growing and remove the cap on companies manufacturing recreational cannabis...

 'Combined, the two companies have been able to produce 3,865 kilograms of dried cannabis through February 2020, which translates to only 121 kilograms per month on average since sales started. That’s just 36% of up to 2,000 kilograms per year that each company was expected to produce when they were contracted by the government.

 Recently granted new licenses to grow recreational cannabis are expected to solve the supply problem once the new flower becomes available.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/supply-issues-still-hinder-uruguay-recreational-cannabis-market-growth/


Hilarious international subterfuge...

 'A shipment of medical cannabis exported from Uruguay in late 2019 to Europe is raising eyebrows, both about the buyer’s identity and the cargo’s sheer size.

 The 1,000-kilogram (2,205-pound) shipment of high-THC cannabis flower was legally exported from Uruguay to Portugal late last year, according to Uruguayan customs documents viewed by Marijuana Business Daily.

 By comparison, Germany – the largest importer of medical cannabis flower in the world – imported an average of 542 kilograms per month in 2019 for pharmacy dispensing.

 The Uruguayan shipment – likely the biggest-ever single international shipment of medical cannabis – symbolizes an increasingly global medical marijuana industry that’s still in its infancy'
https://mjbizdaily.com/uruguay-exports-largest-ever-shipment-of-high-thc-flower-but-the-buyer-remains-a-mystery/


'All indicators show cannabis use has risen in Uruguay since 2011 – past-month use has nearly doubled. This suggests the main increase has been of regular and frequent use of the drug. Short-term data from Canada also suggest an increase in use coinciding with the expansion of legal markets from 2018 to 2019. However, 40 per cent of users still relied on illegal sources for some of their cannabis products in 2019' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_1.pdf


'An increase in past-year cannabis use is also reported in South American countries that have provided new survey data. In Uruguay, for example, as reported in a survey conducted in 2018, 12.1 per cent of men and 5.8 per cent of women used cannabis in the past month – that is, taken together, 8.9 per cent of the population aged 15–65. While all measures of cannabis use have shown increases since 2011, past-month use of cannabis has increased the most, having nearly doubled, which suggests that the main increase since 2011 has been among regular and frequent cannabis users. The highest past-month prevalence of cannabis use was reported among young people aged 19–25 (20.8 per cent) followed by those aged 26–35 (16.4 per cent). Around 9.9 per cent of those who reported cannabis use in the past year were reported to be daily or near-daily users of cannabis (13.1 per cent male versus 5.2 per cent female). More than one third of regular cannabis users were considered to be dependent.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf


The cannabis is most probably getting diverted to North American and European markets. Increase the limits for individual home growing and remove the cap on companies manufacturing recreational cannabis...

'Combined, the two companies have been able to produce 3,865 kilograms of dried cannabis through February 2020, which translates to only 121 kilograms per month on average since sales started. That’s just 36% of up to 2,000 kilograms per year that each company was expected to produce when they were contracted by the government.

Recently granted new licenses to grow recreational cannabis are expected to solve the supply problem once the new flower becomes available.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/supply-issues-still-hinder-uruguay-recreational-cannabis-market-growth/

  • In 2014, Uruguay became the world’s first country to legalize adult-use cannabis: Citizens may access it through pharmacies, membership in clubs, or self-cultivation.
  • The most common way that Uruguayans access legal cannabis is through pharmacies, and the number of such customers has been rising — now 77% of registrants patronize pharmacies, up from 68% in April 2018; in the past 11 months, pharmacy registrations have increased 50%.
  • Since the adult-use program’s inception, Uruguay’s pharmacies have faced supply challenges due whether to limits regulating the volume of cannabis afforded to pharmacies, or complications along the supply chain.
  • Only two companies—ICC and Symbiosis—are permitted to cultivate psychoactive cannabis for the nation’s 17 licensed pharmacies.
  • To address increased demand for pharmacy-supplied cannabis, Uruguay’s regulating agency, the IRCCA, began accepting applications for additional psychoactive cannabis cultivators; it will grant up to 5 new licenses to applicants whether domestic or foreign.
https://newfrontierdata.com/marijuana-insights/registered-uruguayan-cannabis-consumers/


'Several member states requested additional time for considering the recommendations, including Japan, the United States, Germany and Russia, while representatives of Norway and Uruguay emphasized the importance of not delaying the vote without agreeing on a specific future date.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/un-commission-on-narcotic-drugs-delays-vote-who-cannabis-recommendations/


'Any misgivings notwithstanding, the political motivation for reform was to reduce the violence associated with drug trafficking, and to promote public health overall. Uruguay’s government tightly controls the cultivation, processing, and dispensing of both medical and adult-use cannabis. Cannabis use is restricted in public spaces, and neither driving nor working while experiencing the plant’s effects is permitted.

Domestically, Uruguayan citizens or legal residents over age 18 may consume cannabis for adult use so long as it has no more than 15% THC. Consumers must be registered with the Instituto de Regulación y Control del Cannabis (Institute for the Regulation and Control of Cannabis, or IRCCA), and through the registration process they select one of three sources as their only point of access to legal cannabis. The law allows for personal cultivation and sales through licensed pharmacies in a government-run permit system, and consumers may also legally access it through cannabis clubs (clubes de membresía). Each club (of between 15-45 members) must be registered with the government’s Institute for the Regulation and Control of Cannabis (IRCCA), is prohibited from advertising, and may own up to 99 plants.'
https://newfrontierdata.com/marijuana-insights/uruguays-great-evolving-cannabis-experiment-continues/

 
'With sounds of reggae beats coming from the streets where thousands of people waved rainbow flags, the Uruguayan Senate passed a law on Tuesday night allowing the citizens of this South American country to grow, sell and smoke marijuana. The bill, passed after 11 hours of heated debate, is aimed at wresting the business from criminals. This experiment is being watched by several countries, which are getting tired of the U.S.-led “war on drugs” and working on drug liberalisation policies.'
https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/uruguayans-can-now-grow-sell-and-smoke-pot-legally/article5449854.ece


'Tabare Vazquez’s victory in Uruguay’s presidential election is a show of support for the leftist coalition that has governed the country for the past decade and allows the government to proceed with its plan to create the world’s first state-run marijuana marketplace.'
https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-in-school/expresident-wins-uruguay-election-pot-plan-safe/article6652868.ece


'Remarkable for his simple lifestyle and un-ceremoniousness, “Pepe”, as Mujica is known, also has made headlines by legalizing marijuana, abortion and gay marriage during his presidency, which ends next year.'
https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-in-school/what-about-a-million-dollars/article6575697.ece


And the men who hold high places
Must be the ones who start
To mold a new reality
Closer to the heart - Rush


'While legal cannabis succeeded in becoming the law of the land in Uruguay, Chile's legalization bill failed. This difference might appear puzzling, because Chile's reform bill was more limited and the country has higher levels of cannabis consumption, normalization and public support. However, in Uruguay, not in Chile, reforms had the backing of the president—for the reasons that Queirolo et al. outline. By extending one of their insights, this commentary shows that the confluence of the problem, policy and political streams, can also have significant downstream consequences.'
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/add.14581


'There has always been a conservative and reactive opinion that fears change. The sad part is that an old man who is almost 80 has to come to propose a youthful openness to a conservative world that makes you want to cry.'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BwVxmJPies


'An amendment to extend the packaging laws for tobacco to marijuana, proposed by members of the National Party, Uruguay’s leading right-wing political organization, was defeated by senators, according to a local press report.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/uruguay-lawmakers-wont-apply-strict-tobacco-packaging-rules-on-marijuana/


'Uruguay’s unprecedented plan to create a legal marijuana market won its critical first step on Wednesday in the Lower House of Congress. It was approved by 50 of the 96 MPs present.'
https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/uruguays-legal-marijuana-plan-clears-first-hurdle/article4980167.ece


'Uruguayan medical cannabis company Cannapur is considering filing an initial public offering or tapping private investors in the first half of next year to fund a portion of the $53 million it needs to build an extraction laboratory and 10 greenhouses.'
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-29/uruguay-cannabis-firm-eyes-ipo-new-investors-to-fund-expansion


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