Uruguay’s position is clear. The State will regulate the use, consumption, cultivation and production of cannabis. Thus concludes the Bill presented by the Government which (it is hoped) will soon be approved; the final step in a long process that Sensi Seeds has been reporting on over the past few months.
In addition to the use, consumption, cultivation and production of cannabis covered by the bill, the new regulation will allow the government to control all the activities related to import, export, growing, cultivation, harvesting, production, acquisition, storage, marketing and distribution of cannabis and its derivatives.
There is no room for error, or differing interpretations. The law is absolutely clear and concise in all aspects so the control that will be exercised will be strict and accurate.
In addition, if Uruguay approves this proposal, all consumers must first register with a new public organization created especially for this purpose. It is the INCA, the National Institute of Cannabis, whose aims are twofold: to regulate the activities around cannabis so they are inside the law, and to promote actions to reduce risks and abuse. In fact, according to the law, the INCA will keep a record of growers and cannabis clubs. The new regulation marks that these clubs can have a maximum of 15 members, plant a maximum of 90 (psychoactive) plants and can possess no more than 7.200 grams of product per year.
Also, the Uruguayan Government affirms that the Junta Nacional de Drogas (National Drug Board) will be “obliged to make at least one drug prevention campaign per year”.
Concerning personal use, the bill allows the domestic growing, cultivation and harvest of up to six cannabis plants. Thus, the law interprets that “amount for personal consumption” means a maximum of 40 grams of cannabis per month.
For this reason, when the law will be adopted, it is expected that 25,000 daily consumers and 70,000 users who consume cannabis irregularly may even buy medicinal cannabis in pharmacies. The reason, according one of the forerunners of the new legislation, the Deputy of Frente Amplio (FA) Julio Bango, is that “pharmacies have the systems of information, the technical directions, the territorial distribution and the necessary public health controls”
Of course, the Bill has a lot of exceptions and the State’s power is nearly omnipresent, but the fact that it will allow, for example, the use of cannabis for scientific research or for therapeutic products, is already a big step forward.
In the words of Bango, “with this Bill we will end a sort of social schizophrenia where marijuana use is allowed but forces the user to commit a crime buying it in the black market. Cultivation and purchase, with the limits established, will now be legal. In addition, he added that “for 40 years our country has allowed marijuana use but not access to the drug”. Also, the politician said that the project is open to receive contributions from the opposition.
In addition, the Vice President of the country, Danilo Astori, expressed his desire that the Bill will gain “a swift approval”, always making clear that the initiative “is not a decriminalization but a regulation of production and consumption”.
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