LatinNews Regional Monitor: Brazil & Southern Cone - 4 March 2019

In brief: Uruguay

* Uruguay’s institute for the regulation and control of cannabis (IRCCA), an official government body, has reported that the sale of legal marihuana in the country has generated US$889,570 in tax revenues for the state since the legalisation of marihuana in 2013. Under Uruguay’s current legal framework, the state has a monopoly on the sale of marihuana through IRCCA. It is also in charge of issuing marihuana growing licenses for ‘cannabis clubs’ which are allowed to legally grow the narcotic for personal consumption but are not allowed to legally sell it. While the level of revenue generated by the legal marihuana market is relatively low, IRCCA calculates that the creation of the legal market has resulted in drug trafficking organisations losing some US$22m over the period as marihuana consumers move to the legal market, where the price of cannabis is controlled.