International
Legal marijuana, but Uruguayans still prefer black market
AFP | Andrea Figueras Ariso
Uruguay was a pioneer in the legalization of recreational cannabis use, a move that helped to push many drug traffickers out of the domestic market.
But a bland and insufficient state supply has meant most consumers still prefer the diversity of the black market.
In 2013, Uruguay became the first country in the world to legalize recreational marijuana use — which came into effect four years later — even permitting its sale in pharmacies.
There are three legal ways for registered users to get hold of marijuana: purchasing it at pharmacies, through home growing for personal use, and by belonging to an official cannabis-producing club.
The most sought after legal method is membership of one of the 249 consumer clubs, which offer a greater variety to their 7,166 members than pharmacies do.
But many clubs have long waiting lists to join as they are limited by law to between 15 and 45 members.
Pulla, the treasurer and technical manager of a cannabis club in Montevideo — who uses a nickname to avoid falling foul of the ban on promoting cannabis use — explained that the waiting list “is an indicator that demand is not satisfied.”
“Many more people want to access the legal market who still cannot,” he said.
There are just over 14,000 registered home growers and another 49,600 people are registered to purchase marijuana at one of the country’s 28 approved pharmacies at around $10 for five grams — below the black market rate.
According to a study by the local IRCCA institute that regulates cannabis, only 27 percent of Uruguayan consumers buy their drugs through approved channels, a figure that reaches 39 percent when taking into account sharing with friends.
‘Main objectives met’
Joaquin, a cannabis user who purchases on the black market and goes by an alias, explained that one problem with the legal supply is the need to make an appointment at the pharmacy.
The black market is quicker and simpler. You “have a contact, talk to him and in the day, or the next day, coordinate and buy,” he said.
Buying on the black market does not necessarily mean getting involved with dangerous drug traffickers, though.
Organized drug traffickers selling “Paraguayans”, a cheaper quality marijuana imported from nearby Paraguay, represent just 30 percent of the illegal market, says Marcos Baudean, a professor at ORT University and researcher at the Monitor Cannabis project.
“There are many more domestic growers who are simply not registered” but have already overtaken trafficking networks in the sale of cannabis.
In that respect, “the main objective has been met: people can consume cannabis without needing to be linked with criminal organizations,” said Daniel Radio, secretary general of the National Drug Board.
The perception of the illegal market has also changed.
Agus, 28 and using an alias, said she originally registered to buy cannabis from pharmacies but now acquires it on the black market while growing her own plants despite not being registered.
“I don’t see it as the black market,” she said. “It has good prices for what is sold and you don’t feel like you’re making use of drug trafficking.”
There is “a friend or an acquaintance who passes you a contact from someone who has flowers and sells them.”
Some people simply prefer to avoid registering, even though the information is used only for the study of consumption.
Cannabis tourism ‘potential’
“The regulation of cannabis has been more effective than repression in terms of the blow to drug trafficking,” explained Mercedes Ponce de Leon, director of the Cannabis Business Hub, a platform charged with developing the drug’s ecosystem in the country.
However, Radio acknowledges that the black market preference of some users demonstrates limits to the current system.
Radio said users tend to be after a higher percentage of THC — tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive substance in the drug, which is limited to 10 percent in the pharmacy product — or more variety such as variants that produce different psychoactive effects.
“That conspires against the effectiveness of the system,” said Radio.
The government now plans to increase the THC percentage and offer greater variety in pharmacies by the end of the year to attract more recreational consumers to the formal market.
Legalization, introduced by leftist guerrilla-turned president Jose Mujica, in power from 2010-15, created an industry of medicinal cannabis exports that have brought more than $20 million to Uruguay’s economy since 2019.
Uruguay sells mainly to the United States, Switzerland, Germany, Portugal, Israel, Argentina and Brazil.
Although current center-right President Luis Lacalle Pou insists the legalization move was a mistake, the left-wing opposition wants Uruguay to go even further.
Currently reserved for residents, they want the market to be opened up to tourists.
“It’s a simple formula: if tourism increases, spending increases, employment increases and investments increase. Models like that in California demonstrate the potential” for cannabis tourism, said Eduardo Antonini, an opposition politician and vice-president of the tourism commission in congress.
Other than Uruguay, 15 American states have legalized recreational marijuana use, as well as Canada.
International
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Mexican authorities dismantled a clandestine laboratory containing 2.5 tons of methamphetamine in the southeastern state of Chiapas, seized a warehouse with more than four tons of chemical precursors in Guerrero (south), and intercepted a trailer in Tijuana attempting to cross into the United States with 2.7 tons of drugs.
Omar García Harfuch, head of the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC), reported on Saturday via social media that agents from the Criminal Investigation Agency of the Attorney General’s Office (FGR), along with representatives from the Defense Secretariat, Navy (Semar), National Guard (GN), and SSPC, disabled the methamphetamine production lab in Chiapas and confiscated 2.5 tons of the drug.
A statement specified that the agents secured 2.5 tons of methamphetamine, barrels containing substances used to manufacture synthetic drugs, a firearm, and four trucks. In another operation in Guerrero, authorities located over four tons of chemical substances.
The discovery took place on a property in the community of Margarita Maza, Juárez, used to store materials for synthetic drug production. Sufficient evidence was collected and presented to a control judge who authorized the intervention of the property.
In Chiapas, authorities also seized more than 300 barrels and containers with chemicals for making synthetic drugs, as well as various metal containers and devices.
International
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The National Assembly of Venezuela expressed its support this Saturday for President Nicolás Maduro, condemning the United States’ increase in the reward offered for his capture as an “act of aggression.”
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Thursday that Washington had doubled the reward to $50 million for Maduro’s capture, labeling him as one of the “world’s largest drug traffickers.”
“We reject the absurd and desperate actions announced by the U.S. Attorney General’s Office, which are clearly illegal and lack any real basis, beyond being a delirious attempt of aggression against the president (…) and against our rebellious and brave people,” said the Assembly leader, Jorge Rodríguez, while reading a letter he said was unanimously approved by the deputies.
“It is precisely President Nicolás Maduro (…) the protector of the strong democracy that shelters us and the leader who firmly upholds the rule of law and justice,” Rodríguez continued. He is also Venezuela’s chief negotiator in talks with Washington.
Bondi accused Maduro of using “terrorist organizations like the Tren de Aragua, the Sinaloa cartel, and the Cartel of the Suns to introduce lethal drugs and violence” into the United States.
“In 25 years of revolution, we have resisted and advanced despite constant imperialist aggressions. They have not succeeded, and will not succeed, with crude sanctions, criminal blockades, or senseless threats in diverting the noble path the Venezuelan people charted in the free elections of July 28, 2024, in which Nicolás Maduro was elected President of the Republic,” the statement read.
The Venezuelan opposition alleges fraud in those elections and claims victory, and as a result, has boycotted the 2025 legislative, regional, and municipal elections.
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In February, the United States designated eight Latin American criminal organizations as “global terrorist” groups, including Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, and the MS-13 gang. In July, it added the Cartel of the Suns to the list — a group Washington claims is led by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Last Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration doubled the reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest, raising it from $25 million to $50 million, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on social media platform X.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained that labeling the Cartel of the Suns as a terrorist organization allows for a strategic shift in dealing with the Venezuelan regime, as it is now also considered a direct threat to U.S. national security, according to El Espectador.
In an interview with The World Over on EWTN, Rubio said the designation enables the U.S. to “use intelligence agencies, the Department of Defense, or any other element of American power to go after them.” He stressed this is no longer just a law enforcement matter, but a national security operation.
When asked at the White House whether he believes it is worth sending the military to combat Latin American drug cartels, Trump responded:
“Latin America has many cartels, a lot of drug trafficking, so, you know, we want to protect our country. We have to protect it.”
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