The Buzz on Marijuana Legalization Has Led To More Use And Addiction

In 2013, Uruguay became the very first nation in the world to legislate cannabis. Although Uruguay decriminalized possession of the drug in 1974, the country's choice to attempt full legalization was controversial. At the time, Uruguay's president, Jos "Pepe" Mujica, a previous leftist guerrilla, described the decision as an "intellectual experiment" to take a look at an alternative to the "war on drugs" approach preferred by the United States and waged in big part in Latin America.

Mujica's goal was to make cannabis extensively readily available and cost effective to press drug traffickers out of the marketplace. Importantly, legalization did not signal deregulation: Only Uruguayan pharmacies are allowed to offer the drug, and the policies limit its sale to people who sign up with the federal government and restrict their purchase to 10 grams a week.

Uruguay's experience offers insights for Mexico and other countries pondering legalization. In spite of fears of a surge in marijuana use in Uruguay, there has just been a five percentage point increase in users since 2013. Still, View Details have actually failed to meet need; just a 3rd of users acquired marijuana from the managed market in 2018.

Uruguay-based Fotmer, Dormul and Burey are licensed to produce medical cannabis for Uruguay. In 2020, the Canadian firm Boreal opened a medical hemp processing plant in Uruguay. Now, marijuana growers in Uruguay are ready to look beyond domestic users, especially must major markets like Mexico open. Brazil legalized medical cannabis in 2019 however does not allow its local production, developing an opportunity for Uruguayan producers.

Uruguay began to export cannabis in 2019 and doubled exports in 2020, to $7. 3 million. Uruguay-based Fotmer Life Sciences forecasts that 80 nations might legalize medical marijuana in the future, with an expected market worth of $100 billion over the next decade. Last year, the business sent its very first shipment to Australia.

Outside of Latin America, governments are also try out legal cannabis usage and looking at the Uruguayan experience. In 2018, Canada legalized the leisure use of cannabis. In the United States, medical cannabis is legal in 35 states and the District of Columbia, while the recreational usage of marijuana is legal in 15 states.