Uruguay analyzes the authorization of tourists to buy marijuana

The first country in the world to legalize most uses of marijuana seeks to distance the business from illicit sellers and strengthen its cannabis industry by allowing foreign visitors to purchase marijuana.

The Government of the President of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou, could unveil his plan as early as this year, in an attempt to build consensus and political support, he said. Daniel Radio, Secretary General of the National Medicines Office. The aim is not to promote Uruguay as a destination for cannabis tourism, but to steer tourists away from the black market towards the regulated market, according to the Under-Secretary of Tourism, Remo Monzeglio.

Giving tourists access to legal cannabis would dramatically increase the industry’s potential customer base in the country of 3.5 million. Typically, millions of Argentines and Brazilians flock to the country’s beaches during the southern hemisphere summer, which runs from December to February. But the pandemic eroded those numbers when the country strictly limited overseas visits. Uruguay plans to reopen its borders to all fully vaccinated foreigners from November 1.

“It’s likely that if we get a good deal,” Uruguay could open up its regulated marijuana market to tourists, the radio said in an interview. “For the tourist season to come, it is highly unlikely but I do not exclude it.”

Uruguayan law allows adult citizens and foreign residents registered in a government registry to grow their own marijuana, join a cannabis club, or purchase 40 grams per month from licensed pharmacies.

In a separate interview, Monzeglio said he proposed charging higher prices to foreign tourists, and that the proceeds would help fund drug rehabilitation and treatment programs.

Uruguayan law allows adult citizens and foreign residents registered in a government registry to grow their own marijuana

A presidential decree would probably be the fastest way to open pharmacies, and potentially cannabis clubs as well, to tourists who sign up for the database.said Radio. To waive the database requirement, Congress would have to pass a law, he said.

Uruguay was at the forefront of cannabis legalization when lawmakers passed sweeping law in 2013 that its supporters said would uphold personal freedom, undermine drug gangs and generate exports. Yet nearly eight years later, the gangs are still in business, annual exports still fall short of $ 10 million, and competition is intensifying as more countries adopt cannabis.

“I think there was an excess of optimism in the possibilities for growth, because we did not play alone in this,” said Radio, who also heads Ircca, the cannabis regulatory agency. .

Cannabis exports have more than doubled to nearly $ 7.5 million in 2020, but that total is still a far cry from the hundreds of millions of dollars predicted by some industry players. Colombia is also emerging as a competitor in terms of investing in cannabis thanks to favorable rules and some of the best growing climates in the world.

Still, Uruguay can build on the new rules to speed up exports, as well as its reputation as a transparent and predictable place to do business, and thus maintain its relevance in the cannabis industry, Radio said. . Ircca has approved 56 licenses for activities such as the cultivation of medicinal cannabis, research and development, and the manufacture of medical and consumer products.

“Some investments are to come linked to industrialization and value creation processes. And that must be our bet, because it is the only way for Uruguay to have competitive conditions, ”Radio said, citing the country’s high labor and energy costs.

With information from Bloomberg

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