Insignificant production, too high demand. Nearly a year after the new cannabis legalization law went into effect, Uruguay has realized too late that it is in trouble. Low cost and product “suitable for everyone,” the state is failing to organize as best it can for the 80 percent increase in registrations (arrived at 23,000 sign-ups) to the lists that allow them to prepare for the 12 pharmacies that have signed up to sell the weed grown, managed and marketed directly by the state.

In Rio de Janeiro, it is impossible to get legal Cannabis from pharmacies.

Out of every 100 inhabitants, at least 1 uses legal Cannabis. 

Long lines made up of men and women, 18 and older, have formed in front of pharmacies in recent months. The lines can stretch as far as four buildings. These wait to buy their 5 grams of legal Cannabis that the state allows them.

An exaggerated wait due, unfortunately, to the low production that the Uruguayan state has imposed for the current year (4 tons per year to satisfy only 8,333 people). A meager quantity that is being exhausted too soon. At the enactment of the law, the first concern was possible reprisals from “narcos” for an unexpected liberalization, which was immediately denied, however, pharmacists say, due to the lack of supply of the weed at their outlets.

The country is one of the first in the world to operate legal Cannabis sales

Uruguay, at present, for being the only country in the world to maneuver and direct the sale of pot, seems to have overcome one of the most complicated challenges unscathed. Success has also been achieved by the stakes set by the law itself such as: tourists and nonresidents cannot buy legal Cannabis; the THC rate, which in pharmacies does not exceed 9 percent, has also influenced the good management of the project.

Last but not least, the price plays its part: 200 pesos, 6 euros, for five grams. All this, however, according to the local police, has not deterred the black market. Illegal Cannabis can be bought from the latter, with a THC that can reach as high as 30 percent.