澳门六合彩

Marijuana: Made in Uruguay

By Mayra Iglesias, Nicol谩s Sald铆as and Greg Ross

In January, Mexico approved new rules for medical marijuana, marking another step toward potential full legalization of the drug. The move followed the 2018聽聽by Mexico鈥檚 supreme court that the prohibition of recreational marijuana was unconstitutional, and the Senate鈥檚聽聽in November 2020 of legislation to legalize recreational marijuana use, which is expected to go before the Lower House in the coming months.

Legalization would make Mexico the largest legal marijuana market in the world, but it is several years behind Latin America鈥檚 cannabis pioneer. In 2013, Uruguay became the first country in the world to legalize marijuana. Although Uruguay decriminalized possession of the drug in 1974, the country鈥檚 decision to attempt full legalization was controversial.

At the time, Uruguay鈥檚 president, Jos茅 鈥淧epe鈥� Mujica, a former leftist guerrilla, described the decision as an聽聽to examine an alternative to the 鈥渨ar on drugs鈥� approach favored by the United States and waged in large part in Latin America. Mr. Mujica鈥檚 goal was to make marijuana widely available and affordable to push drug traffickers out of the marketplace.

Importantly, legalization did not signal deregulation: Only Uruguayan pharmacies are allowed to sell the drug, and the聽聽limit its sale to citizens who register with the government and limit their purchase to ten grams a week. The state agency responsible for overseeing the marijuana industry, the Institute for the Regulation and Control of Marijuana, also supervises the potency of active components of the drug.

Uruguay鈥檚 experience offers insights for Mexico and other countries contemplating legalization. Despite fears of an explosion in marijuana use in Uruguay, there has only been a聽聽in users since 2013. Still, official producers have failed to meet demand; only a聽聽of users purchased marijuana from the regulated market in 2018.

To expand on the supplies from the Canadian International Marijuana Corporation and U.S.-based Simbiosys, Uruguay issued three more production licenses in 2019, to U.S.-based Biopharmaceutical Research Company and Uruguay-based Jabelor and Legira. Uruguay-based Fotmer, Dormul and Burey are licensed to produce medical marijuana for Uruguay. In 2020, the Canadian firm聽聽opened a medical hemp processing plant in Uruguay.

Now, marijuana growers in Uruguay are ready to聽聽domestic users, especially should major markets like Mexico open up. Brazil legalized medical marijuana in 2019 but does not permit its local production, creating an opportunity for Uruguayan producers. For the 12 Uruguayan firms exporting marijuana聽, the principal markets were Portugal, Switzerland and Israel. Uruguay began to export marijuana in 2019 and doubled exports in 2020, to $7.3 million.

Uruguay-based Fotmer Life Sciences聽聽that 80 countries could legalize medical marijuana in the near future, with an expected market value of $100 billion over the next decade. Last year, the company sent its first shipment to Australia. 鈥淥ur goal is to create a billion-dollar industry here in Uruguay in the next five to seven years,鈥� Fotmer CEO Jordan Lewis聽.

Outside of Latin America, governments are also experimenting with legal marijuana use and looking at the Uruguayan experience. In 2018, Canada legalized the recreational use of marijuana. In the United States, medical marijuana is legal in 35 states and the District of Columbia, while the recreational use of marijuana is聽聽in 15 states. (Under federal law, all marijuana use remains illegal.)

Producers in North America have stepped up, but have often struggled to turn a profit, given聽聽in accessing capital and聽聽marijuana prices since 2019. In the United States,聽聽as the pace of legalization slowed and some of the most well-known producers faced聽. North American producers also struggle with an unfavorable growing climate, creating聽聽for their Uruguayan peers. 鈥淓veryone is waking up to the fact that it doesn鈥檛 make sense to grow marijuana in the tundra of Canada,鈥� Lewis, the Fotmer CEO,聽.

Uruguay is not alone in Latin America in seeing the economic opportunities of producing and exporting marijuana.

In Argentina, congress聽聽in 2017, and two years later, Jujuy became the first province to produce medical marijuana. In 2020, the governors of Jujuy and Corrientes聽聽an agreement to study and produce medical marijuana jointly. In 2015, Colombia, despite a complex relationship with narcotics and organized crime, became the fourth Latin American country to legalize medical marijuana. Colombia also saw an economic opportunity; 93 percent of licenses granted by Colombia鈥檚 Health Ministry are for export, and Colombia expects to聽聽$791 million in income from medical marijuana exports by 2025. Mexicans, too,聽聽to begin exporting the crop.

Still, producers in Uruguay have a first mover advantage to gain a niche in export markets, and generate revenue and employment for the country. Though his party opposed legalization, President Luis Lacalle Pou now sees the potential for an economic windfall for the country, which relies heavily on exports of meat, soy and wood. Mr. Lacalle Pou, elected in 2019, has already聽聽two executive orders to encourage medicinal marijuana and hemp exports.聽