In 2013, Uruguay became the first country in the world to legalize the production, sale and consumption of marijuana. The goal: to curb the black market and crime. Was that successful?
“Someone has to start,” said Uruguay’s left-wing President José Mujica, shortly before his country took a globally unique step in drug policy. Growing, selling and consuming marijuana should become legal under government supervision.
Mujica explained at the time: “If we legalize marijuana, we will destroy the black market. Because we will sell the drugs much cheaper than the criminal gangs. And from a medical point of view, we will have a better overview of the users and can provide better information.”
“That also means a bit of freedom”
The decision was extremely close in December 2013 in the Uruguayan Congress. Today, there are three legal ways to get marijuana: you can buy it from a licensed dispensary, grow it yourself, or become a member of an official cannabis club.
Xavier just bought a small bag at the pharmacy. “I don’t have enough space at home to grow it myself,” he tells Reuters. “And I don’t smoke so much that it would be worth joining a club. Just occasionally to relax, usually on the weekend. That’s why this is the best option for me.”
Xavier paid the equivalent of around ten euros for five grams. He likes the fact that smoking weed is legal in his country. “It used to be a problem to get it and the weed was often of poor quality. I had to go to dubious shops to buy it. And it was against the law. You were allowed to smoke weed, but growing and buying it was illegal. Now we as consumers have rights and that also means a bit of freedom.”
The black market has not disappeared
However, legalization has by no means dried up the black market: around half of all consumers still go to the dealer. Mainly because they don’t want to register – because this is mandatory at the official sales outlets.
That’s a problem, lawyer Alejandro Abal recently told the Uruguayan broadcaster Radiomundo. “Many people from lower social classes don’t want to be registered because they may have an irregular employment relationship and don’t want to appear anywhere with their data.” There are also far too few places to sell: “This isn’t a problem in the capital Montevideo, but in rural areas there are hardly any authorized pharmacies and clubs, so it’s easier to continue to obtain it illegally.”
The number of stoners has not increased significantly since legalization; nor those with problematic, i.e. health-endangering, consumption. Lay that initial studies vicinity. Nevertheless, Abal criticizes a certain carelessness on the subject. “There are notices on every pack of cigarettes that warn about the health risks of smoking. I have never seen these notices with cannabis, but smoking weed can also be dangerous, perhaps even more so than smoking.”
New jobs and more tax income
Today, one in two people get their weed legally. This can also be seen as positive, says Guillermo Raffo, Vice President of the Association of Cannabis Clubs in Uruguay: Because that means that half of the customers have been taken away from the black market within a few years. In addition, this new market is pouring a lot of money into public coffers and creating jobs that didn’t exist before.
But the law must now be further developed, demands Raffo. “It was an experiment for which there was no model in the world: the only focus was on sales and consumption. But you shouldn’t regulate the market and production so tightly.” Production needs to be expanded and the medical use of cannabis has so far been completely neglected, complains Raffo. “There is still a lot to be improved so that this law can develop further.”
It won’t be easy, because Uruguay is now governed by conservatives, and President Luis Lacalle Pou considers legalization to be a mistake. And complete liberalization would also be problematic given the increasing power of drug cartels on the continent.
They won’t be contained in this way anyway, said Daniel Radioo from Uruguay’s National Drug Authority at a recent public forum. It’s more about decoupling stoners from this market by no longer driving them into illegality. “The big drug traffickers don’t make a living from cannabis. But it’s our job to protect users so that they aren’t forced to get involved with them in order to get their hands on the weed.” Because it’s not the smoking of weed that’s bad, it’s the connection to the drug world. “That’s why we have a responsibility to continue working on our law. But the regulation is irreversible.”
Ina Rottscheidt, ARD Rio de Janeiro, tagesschau, February 23, 2024 12:23 a.m