19 July, 2017
Pharmacies in Uruguay start selling marijuana from Wednesday under the final phase of a four-year-old law that made the small South American country the first in the world to legalise pot from production to sale.
"Uruguay's model will look quite different from the eight USA states that have legalized marijuana", Hetzer continued. She said it was just a service and expressed hope that her business would not suffer.
At this point, only 16 pharmacies across the country with a population of 3.4 million will sell the mild drug. The rest of the money will be split between the pharmacies and government-run drug prevention programs.
Authorities say almost 5,000 people have registered as consumers allowing them to buy marijuana when sales start Wednesday.
So far 4,959 people have signed up; government figures show that most are aged 30 to 44.
The pharmacy sales form the last of three phases set out under the 2013 law.
Registration is also required to grow cannabis at home.
Two private companies will oversee the harvesting of cannabis sold in pharmacies and receive about 90 cents of every gram purchased.
On Monday, the National Drugs Council tweeted an image of what the packages would look like: blue-and-white sealed sachets that look something like condom packets. I have talked to people that have consume marijuana in Uruguay, including my buddy Jorge Cervantes, and they all say that cannabis in Uruguay is of good quality. The levels of THC-the psychotropic constituent in cannabis-are given on the outside, for consumer information.
The packets are being retailed at US$6.60 (RM28) cording to the IRCCA. The idea of legalizing marijuana for adult use in Uruguay was first proposed by President José Mujica in 2012, and was approved by Uruguay's parliament in December 2013.
