Uruguay became the first country in the world to legalize marijuana on Tuesday when the nation’s Senate voted 16-13 to pass legislation the House had approved this past August.
Under the legislation, Uruguayan residents over the age of 18 and registered on a government database will now be able to legally buy up to 1.4 ounces per month, or 40 grams, of marijuana in specially licensed pharmacies, or grow up to six plants themselves. Uruguayans would also be allowed to form cooperatives and cultivate up to 99 plants.
Americans thinking about planning a trip to Uruguay to smoke legal pot should look elsewhere as the law will not extend to foreigners.
According to the legislation, only the government would legally be allowed to sell the substance, meaning the state would assume “the control and regulation of the importation, exportation, plantation, cultivation, the harvest, the production, the acquisition, the storage, the commercialization and the distribution of cannabis and its by-products.”
President José Mujica, who introduced the proposal last year to control the substance instead of organized crime affiliates and drug traffickers, is expected to provide final approval this week. Officials will reportedly have 120 days to develop regulations, which include cultivation standards, fixing the price of the substance, and implementing ways to monitor consumption.
In a press release, Dan Riffle, director of federal policies for the Marijuana Policy Project, applauded Mujica and members of the Uruguayan General Assembly for their leadership on the issue, saying that support for regulating marijuana and taking it out of the underground market is not only growing in the U.S. but also internationally.
“Marijuana prohibition creates underground markets that generate billions of dollars in tax-free revenue for violent drug cartels and traffickers,” Riffle said. “Regulating marijuana will allow authorities to control it and ensure profits are being used to benefit communities instead of criminals.”