Just 14 days after the launch of the sale of cannabis in pharmacies in Uruguay, buyers' responses only affirm the basis of the government's proposal to combat drug trafficking. If on the part of the citizens there were doubts in the implementation, sanctioned by law in December of 2013 along with other measures of regulation of the marijuana like the autocultivo, that tension begins to dissipate: rows in the offices of the Central Mail to register in the registry Of buyers, exhausted buds in pharmacies and a number of "acquirers" who, since July 19, the day the legal sale was launched, does not stop growing. The number almost doubled : from 4,959 to 9,221 registered smokers , which means an increase of 85%.

The figure was updated on July 30 by the Cannabis Regulation and Control Institute (IRCCA) of Uruguay. In 14 days registrations to buy marijuana for "recreational" (non-medicinal) use in pharmacies also exceeded the number of self-cultivators registered, which was not modified in the last 20 days of July: on the 10th of that month growers Were 39% more than the "acquirers", but 21 days later, the latter exceeded the previous ones by 35%.

Mate and cannabis, "trademark" of Uruguay
Mate and cannabis, "trademark" of Uruguay

The surge of legal marijuana also reaches pharmacies . Uruguay launched the sale with 16 businesses in 11 of the 19 departments that make up the nation (four are in the capital, Montevideo). However, an official IRCCA statement, dated July 28, clarified that "new applications for pharmacy membership are being processed and processed, so that the number of access points in different parts of the country will increase progressively . " A source from that public body admitted to Infobae that there would be some 20 pharmacies that will be added, although it did not specify deadlines for these incorporations.

The organization Monitor Cannabis , under the Faculty of Social of the University of the Republic, Uruguay estimated that 160 000 live marijuana smokers, of whom 55 thousand are regular users. All of them, from the law passed in 2013, have three ways to consume in a legal way: pharmacies, self-cultivation and also as partners of cannabis clubs , which are already officially registered 63 and bring together some 3,000 members.

Cannabis flowers in their original package, sold in pharmacies (EFE)
Cannabis flowers in their original package, sold in pharmacies (EFE)

That is, there are already more than 17 thousand Uruguayan residents who stopped buying in the market regulated by drug trafficking and passed to the state controlled . A Monitor Cannabis report indicated that before the sale in pharmacies, marijuana production and consumption represented about 5.8 tons, 17% of annual marijuana use in Uruguay or, in terms of money, 7 million dollars During 2016 did not feed the coffers of the narco business .

"We could say, with the updated numbers, that we are doubling these numbers, we will evaluate it and we are open to the evaluation." On the other hand, no cataclysm, no drugged zombie gang, no pharmacy assaults occurred. who broke with the stigma and stereotype , " he remarked to Infobae psychologist Milton Romani , head of the National Drug Board during the administration of former President Jos Mujica, and one of the main drivers of the legalization of cannabis, adding: " It will increase the register, increase the pharmacies. It will not increase consumption, which is consolidated and with this device we are more likely to prevent, educate, inform conscientiously.This shows, as the first very positive balance, the confidence of the users of cannabis in the Law and in the State " .

This is the presentation of the two varieties of cannabis that are sold in pharmacies in Uruguay
This is the presentation of the two varieties of cannabis that are sold in pharmacies in Uruguay

Pharmacies now sell two varieties of cannabis in 5-gram bags. These are the Alpha 1 and Beta 1 genetics , Sativa and Indica respectively (each species generates different effects on the body and mind of the consumer), which have only 2% of their psychoactive component, known as THC, which is considered A low index (on average, a marijuana plant generates between 7 and 10% of this molecule) and between 6 and 7 percent of CBD (a molecule that best applies for medicinal use and is not psychoactive). However, consumers who already bought at pharmacies indicated that the effect is felt. In addition, the IRCCA clarified that in the future will produce new genetic with other values in the chemical composition.

Each Uruguayan registered as an "acquirer" can buy up to 10 grams per week (40 per month, or 480 per year) of the marijuana put up for sale at all 16 pharmacies, in exchange for $ 1.3 per gram . For now International Cannabis Corporation (publicly listed in Canada) and Simbiosys are the two companies that produce under license granted by the State, in fiscal lands, located in the locality of Libertado, to about 60 kilometers to the west of Montevideo.

Cannabis cannabis from International Cannabis Corp. (ICC)
Cannabis cannabis from International Cannabis Corp. (ICC)

To be acquirer in Uruguay it is necessary to be more than 18 years oldand to be resident of that country. Subscribers retain the privacy of their identity; To buy in pharmacies just need to support one of their fingers in a fingerprint reader. The computer system registers the user and the amounts he buys.

The government made clear that marijuana will not be sold to tourists and that it does not promote consumption, but rather seeks to take away the market from drug trafficking and ensure sanitary conditions for users. At the summit of Mercosur presidents held in Mendoza, Argentina, Tabar Vzquez, the first president of Uruguay, was blunt: "Marijuana is the drug that most consumes our country. It is not cocaine or heroin Or lysergic acid.And it is an incontrovertible reality that confrontation with drug trafficking has failed all over the world.Therefore, insisting on combating a plague, a pathology of society, with the same tools that failed, is totally illogical .