Uruguay Marijuana Legalization May Not Last Past Next Year, Regulations Unsurprisingly Failing

Earlier this year Uruguay
became the first country in the world to legalize marijuana,
setting up regulations largely far stricter than those in Colorado
and Washington, where marijuana was also legalized. Uruguay’s
regulations placed limits on how much marijuana could be bought and
where and required registration for marijuana users.

Just 378 people registered as of last month, and why would there
be more? Uruguay’s president, Jose Mujica, who supported
legalization even while warning of the illness marijuana use can
lead to, is nevertheless term-limited.

The front runner to succeed him, cancer doctor Tabare Vazquez,
also his predecessor, is excited about
using the registry to “better know who uses drugs and be able
to intervene earlier to rehabilitate that person.”

Meanwhile, the other candidate, center-right Luis Lacalle Pou,
is opposed to legalization. Uruguay’s marijuana legalization
experiment may not last much longer than Mujica’s term.