Uruguay made the move to legalize cannabis many years ago but they are just now getting around to finally setting-up what their controlled market is going to look like. It's been since 2013 that they made the changes to pass a law paving the way for legalization to begin, but just this year is when lawmakers there say that they will be ready to start selling cannabis in pharmacies across the country.
Those pharmacies will be disbursing cannabis for recreational purposes.
They say that starting in July of this year is when people can expect to be able to go into the dispensaries and get access to cannabis. However, any buyers are still required to sign-up to a national registry.
It's estimated that cannabis will cost as little as $1.30/gram
Registration is open to citizens of Uruguay or permanent residents and they can only purchase about 1.4 ounces per month. A number of people in the country aren't very happy about the limit on what they can consume, as well as the registry that they need to sign up for.
Some have even protested against it, saying that it should be their body and therefore their choice to decide what they put into it; sans any registration requirement. They also say that having to sign a registry invades their privacy.
Under the new rules, people in the country will now be afforded the permission to grow their own plants at home.
So far it is estimated that at least 16 different pharmacies have signed up to work with the government in dispensing the cannabis, and they are hopeful that more will sign up as well.
It just goes to show how slow and arduous the process of legalization is, it takes years in order to establish and in the meantime there are many who suffer because they are prohibited from growing or accessing what they want or need. Granted, because of the decriminalized possession rules in Uruguay, the users there don't suffer as much as other users from countries who still do waste tremendous resources on targeting and punishing people for drug use.
Back in 2013 when they made the changes, Uruguay was hailed as the first country to legalize cannabis. Despite that it is soon to be offered in pharmacies, cannabis is still illegal to purchase from dealers in the country and it isn't legal for tourists to buy from the pharmacies either. It is legal however to possess and use drugs in the country; they've never criminalized personal possession.
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Sources:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-39522345
https://prohbtd.com/what-cannabis-legalization-in-uruguay-really-means-for-tourists
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/the-uncharted-territory-of-how-uruguay-legalized-marijuana/article20781037/
http://www.businessinsider.com/uruguay-has-decriminalized-all-drugs-for-40-years-2016-6
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_in_Uruguay