Marijuana legalisation in Uruguay
9 July 2014
Unlike most other counties, it has long been legal to possess an undefined “reasonable quantity” of any drug for personal consumption in Uruguay. However, production, transportation and sale remained illegal.This meant that illicit drug traffickers supplied the marijuana that was then legally possessed by Uruguayans, creating profit for organized crime.
On December 23, 2013, Uruguay became the first country in the world to fully legalize the production, sale and consumption of marijuana for personal use when President José Mujica signed law 19.172.
The stated goals of the law are:
- To improve public health and reduce the risks and harms associated with the use of marijuana.
- To promote the dissemination of information, education, and prevention for the consumption and negative consequences of problematic drug use.
- To protect the population from the risks associated with illegal drug trafficking, and specifically to “attack the devastating social, health, and economic consequences of psychoactive substance abuse,” thereby reducing illegal drug trafficking and organized crime.
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