Uruguayan President Luis Lacaille Pou said his country made a mistake by passing a marijuana legalization and sale law that allows the state to participate in the trade, according to an interview broadcast by the BBC.
Uruguay was the first country in the world to legalize the sale and production of marijuana in 2013 under far-left President José Mujica, who saw the law as a way to shield its citizens from drug trafficking networks.
Since then, three ways to obtain cannabis have been allowed: either grow it at home for individual consumption, be owned by private cooperatives to grow it, or buy it from state-controlled pharmacies.
Dozens of pharmacies sell cannabis for about $10 per five grams, which is competitive with black market prices.
But for the current centre-right president, the state should not be part of the process of growing or selling “drugs” because they are “unprofitable.”
“We made a mistake,” Lacayette said, adding, “The system works and it’s hard to change overnight.”
