Claim: High ambitions: Uruguay cannabis firm targets booming global market for medical marijuana.
Verdict: SUPPORTS

Retrieved passages:
title: Minors and the legality of cannabis
text: are met. Uruguay legalized cannabis in 2014. Uruguay is the first nation in the world to regulate all aspects of the cannabis market (production, sales, and consumption) for those that are at least 18 years old. The reason for its proposed legalization was to get rid of the organized crime and violence that came along with the illegal drug industry. Their efforts to legalize the drug were not done because of social pressure, but more so out of the efforts to protect society from the dangers that are produced from an illegal market. Uruguay’s government wanted to seize the market

title: Cannabis in Uruguay
text: grows had already begun, but commercial sale had not, and would ultimately be delayed until late 2017. Vázquez, a former oncologist, promised a "strict and close evaluation" of legal cannabis, and declared "first of all, you shouldn’t consume drugs." In 2017, the government authorized 16 pharmacies to become cannabis distributors, allowed to sell only to the nearly 5,000 cannabis consumers registered with the government. The product is standardized into two offerings, "Alfa 1" and "Beta 1", both with relatively low THC content. Registered consumers must be Uruguayan, 18 or older, and are limited to 40 grams per month, with their

title: Cannabis in Uruguay
text: coordinated through the existing agency that monitors tobacco, alcohol, and pharmaceuticals. He estimated that with 70,000 users, the country will have to produce more than 5,000 pounds each month. He also stated: "Uruguay wants to make a 'contribution to humanity' by legalising marijuana but will backtrack if the 'experiment' goes awry". On 31 July 2013, the Chamber of Deputies passed the bill to legalize and regulate the production and sale of cannabis and sent it to the country's Senate. The bill was approved by 50 affirmative votes (the minimum required) with all Deputies from the ruling Broad Front voting in

title: Cannabis in Uruguay
text: polls in 2012–2013 by Equipos Mori, Cifra and Factum, 58-66% of Uruguayans opposed legalizing the sale of marijuana while 24-29% supported it. Cannabis in Uruguay Cannabis is legal in Uruguay, and is one of the most widely used drugs in the nation. President Jose Mujica signed legislation to legalize recreational cannabis in December 2013, making Uruguay the first country in the modern era to legalize cannabis. In August 2014, Uruguay legalized growing up to six plants at home, as well as the formation of growing clubs, a state-controlled marijuana dispensary regime, and the creation of a Cannabis regulatory institute (IRCCA

title: Cannabis in Uruguay
text: identity and registration confirmed at the point of sale with a fingerprint scanner. Since the drug was legalised in Uruguay, production for personal use and the establishment of cannabis clubs were successful. Distribution via pharmacies has remained sluggish. The main reason is the boycott of large international banks. Monitor Cannabis, a scholars' platform, assesses that the actual demand in Uruguay is much higher, since the national drug commission estimates that more than 160,000 people in the country consume cannabis. That would imply that the legal market share amounts to no more than 20%;with the rest being black market According to

title: Cannabis in Uruguay
text: Cannabis in Uruguay Cannabis is legal in Uruguay, and is one of the most widely used drugs in the nation. President Jose Mujica signed legislation to legalize recreational cannabis in December 2013, making Uruguay the first country in the modern era to legalize cannabis. In August 2014, Uruguay legalized growing up to six plants at home, as well as the formation of growing clubs, a state-controlled marijuana dispensary regime, and the creation of a Cannabis regulatory institute (IRCCA in Spanish). In October 2014 the Government began registering growers' clubs, allowed in turn to grow a maximum of 99 cannabis plants

title: Latin American drug legalization
text: December 10, 2013: A government-sponsored bill approved by a 16-13 vote in the Senate provides for regulation of the cultivation, distribution and consumption of marijuana and is aimed at wresting the business from criminals in the small South American nation. Backers outside the court house paraded signs declaring, "Cultivating freedom, Uruguay grows." In April 2014, Uruguay will be the first country to have legal recreational cannabis. Consumers will be able to buy a maximum of 40 grams (1.4 ounces) each month from licensed pharmacies as long as they are Uruguayan residents over the age of 18. Buyers will be registered

title: Cannabis in Uruguay
text: leaders to do the same. Nobel prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa praised the decision as "courageous". The law intends to reduce the profit that drug trafficking creates for organized crime, as well as reducing the drug-related violence and the social problems associated with it. Uruguay has one of the lowest murder rates in the region (though by some estimates, crime was slightly increasing in 2013). Mujica's plan would allow users to cultivate the plant for non-commercial uses and grant licenses to professional farmers for larger scale production. The plan includes a system of; user registry, taxation, and quality control; all

title: Cannabis in Uruguay
text: illegal to move it across international borders. In July 2014 president José Mujica announced that the full implementation of the law would be postponed to 2015, as "there are practical difficulties". Authorities will grow all the cannabis that can be sold legally, and concentrations of THC shall be 15% or lower. In August 2014, an opposition presidential candidate claimed that the new law was unworkable and would never be applied. In December 2014, President Tabaré Vázquez was elected, and stated that though he had concerns about the cannabis law, ultimately it would move forward. At that point, personal and club

title: Cannabis industry
text: suit [lobbyist] is not a good sign." Cannabis in Uruguay was legalized for adult use in December, 2013. Sales of marijuana are regulated through government distribution with a state-mandated price of $1.30 per gram . Access to marijuana is legal through four sources: medical marijuana through the Ministry of Health, home-grown marijuana, membership clubs, and sales to adults in drugstores . Canada is set to become the second country to legalize adult-use of marijuana with Bill C-45 on July 1, 2018 Cannabis in Canada. As of December 2017, there are 79 licensed marijuana producers in Canada with most concentrated in

title: Kayvan Khalatbari
text: Marley and other notable cannabis entrepreneurs. The sale encompassed rights to the popular High Times Magazine, website, books, Cannabis Cup events, and more. Khalatbari hopes to see High Times cover more societal and cultural topics in the future including environmental best practices for the cannabis industry, protection of medical cannabis patient's rights, and expanded minority inclusion in the cannabis industry. Cresco Labs is a medical marijuana business licensed by the state of Illinois, that received the three highest scores in the state's "rigorous" application process and is planning to open three cultivation facilities in Joliet, Kankakee, and Lincoln, Illinois. Khalatbari

title: José Mujica
text: issues, and stated that they would ask global leaders to do the same. Mujica said that by regulating Uruguay's estimated $40 million-a-year marijuana business, the state would take it away from drug traffickers, and weaken the drug cartels. The state would also be able to keep track of all marijuana consumers in the country and provide treatment to the most serious abusers, much like that which is done with alcoholics. In September 2013, Mujica addressed the United Nations General Assembly, with a very long speech devoted to humanity and globalization. The speech called on the international community to strengthen efforts

title: Drug liberalization
text: position to browbeat Uruguay or others who may follow." In July 2014, government officials announced that part of the implementation of the law (the sale of cannabis through pharmacies) is postponed to 2015, as "there are practical difficulties". Authorities will grow all the cannabis that can be sold legal. Concentration of THC shall be 15% or lower. In August 2014 an opposition presidential candidate, who was not elected in the November 2014 presidential elections, claimed that the new law was never going to be applied, as it was not workable. By the end of 2016 the government announced that the

title: Cannabis in Uruguay
text: the criteria. However, this won’t be a free market. The government will control the entire production and determine the price, quality, and maximum production volume." People will be allowed to buy up to of cannabis from the Uruguayan government each month. Users have to be 18 or older and be registered in a national database to track their consumption. Cultivators are allowed to grow up to 6 crops at their homes each year and shall not surpass . Registered smoking clubs will be allowed to grow 99 plants annually. Buying cannabis will be prohibited to foreigners and it will be

title: Cannabis in Uruguay
text: annually; as of August 2015, there were 2,743 registered personal growers. After a long delay in implementing the retail component of the law, in 2017 sixteen pharmacies were authorized to sell cannabis commercially. Uruguay has never criminalized personal possession of drugs, and a 1974 law allowed judges to determine whether a given case of possession was personal or commercial. This law was later updated in 1998. In June 2012, the Uruguayan government, under President Mujica, announced plans to legalise state-fix sales of cannabis in order to fight drug-related crimes and health issues. The government stated that they would ask global

title: Cannabis in Uruguay
text: favor and all the other Deputies voting against it. The bill was passed by the Senate's Health Commission on 26 November and was expected to be voted by the full Senate since November 2013. The new law was accepted in the Senate on 10 December 2013 by a 16–13 vote. President Mujica signed the bill into law on 23 December 2013. Julio Calzada, Secretary-General of Uruguay’s National Drug Council, explained in a December 2013 interview that the government will be responsible for regulating the production side of the process: "Companies can get a license to cultivate if they meet all

title: History of cannabis
text: such as Belgium (2003), Chile (2005), Brazil (2006), and Czech Republic (2010). In Uruguay, President Jose Mujica signed legislation to legalize recreational cannabis in December 2013, making Uruguay the first country in the modern era to legalize cannabis. In August 2014, Uruguay legalized growing up to six plants at home, as well as the formation of growing clubs, a state-controlled marijuana dispensary regime. In Canada, following the 2015 election of Justin Trudeau and formation of a Liberal government, in 2017 the House of Commons passed a bill to legalize cannabis on 1 July 2018. The United Nations' "World Drug Report"

title: Latin American drug legalization
text: stated that they will ask global leaders to do the same. On July 31, 2013, the Uruguayan House of Representatives approved a bill to legalize the production, distribution, sale, and consumption of marijuana by a vote of 50 to 46. Relating this vote to the 2012 legalization of marijuana by the U.S. states Colorado and Washington, John Walsh, drug policy expert of the Washington Office on Latin America, stated that "Uruguay's timing is right. Because of last year’s Colorado and Washington State votes to legalize, the U.S. government is in no position to browbeat Uruguay or others who may follow.”

title: Uruguay
text: the first country in the world to fully legalize marijuana. The law was voted at the Uruguayan Senate on the same date with 16 votes to approve it and 13 against. In 2010, Uruguay's export-oriented agricultural sector contributed to 9.3% of the GDP and employed 13% of the workforce. Official statistics from Uruguay's Agriculture and Livestock Ministry indicate that meat and sheep farming in Uruguay occupies 59.6% of the land. The percentage further increases to 82.4% when cattle breeding is linked to other farm activities such as dairy, forage, and rotation with crops such as rice. According to FAOSTAT, Uruguay

title: Drug liberalization
text: to the judge’s discretion to determine whether the intent was personal use. Once it is determined by the judge that the amount in possession was meant for personal use, there are no sanctions. In June 2012, the Uruguayan government announced plans to legalize state-controlled sales of marijuana in order to fight drug-related crimes. The government also stated that they will ask global leaders to do the same. On 31 July 2013, the Uruguayan House of Representatives approved a bill to legalize the production, distribution, sale, and consumption of marijuana by a vote of 50 to 46. The bill then passed