MOSCOW, October 17 (RIA Novosti) – Uruguay’s law legalizing marijuana sales may not survive much longer after the current president of Uruguay Jose Mujica steps down in January 2015, AFP reported.
The law’s future appears uncertain, as Mujica’s predecessor and Broad Front (BA) party colleague Tabare Vazquez seems indifferent toward Mujica’s policy initiative; meanwhile Luis Lacalle Pou of the center-right National Party, Vazquez’s main opponent in the upcoming election, is outright against the legalization law, AFP said.
According to the law, marijuana users were supposed to be able to purchase the substance from pharmacies, cannabis clubs, or home-growers under a regulated and fully legalized market, CNN reported.
However, Mujica has been unable to effectively implement the basic working components of the law.
Although the registration process has been opened for marijuana growers, only 378 people have signed up as of September 11, according to the Institute for the Regulation and Control of Cannabis (IRCCA).
“Given that there are several thousand marijuana growers in the country, 400 in one month is a low number”, said Juan Manuel Varela, co-owner of a boutique that caters to home growers, as quoted by AFP.
For those who want to buy cannabis at pharmacies a registration day has not yet been decided, AFP said.
“The regulations aren’t very logical. There is a lack of information”, said Varela, quoted AFP.
