Research paperCannabis clubs in Uruguay: The challenges of regulation
Section snippets
Background
Cannabis clubs constitute one of three ways in which the new Uruguayan law (Law 19,172) regulates production, distribution and consumption of cannabis and allows nationals to obtain cannabis. Other modes of access include self-cultivation and purchasing cannabis at pharmacies. Currently, these three methods are mutually exclusive and individuals must choose one legal way to obtain cannabis, and register with the Uruguayan IRCCA (Instituto de Regulación y Control del Cannabis). Sales through
Methods
Data presented here come from two main sources: documentary research and interviews with club officials and members. Through documentary research, our team collected official documents (laws and regulations, as well as guidelines provided by the IRCCA) and information published on diverse national media outlets on cannabis regulation in general and cannabis clubs in particular. Data collection activities started in March 2015 and were completed in August 2015. The three PIs of the project were
Results
According to the UCCs representatives, cannabis clubs have two main purposes: granting access to cannabis and activism. It is clear that the UCCs have the goal of providing legal, affordable, high-quality, and readily available cannabis with co-production providing a solution to the underproduction that single growers can face.6
Conclusions
In Uruguay, cannabis clubs are one of the three legal ways in which users can obtain cannabis. They enjoy a supportive legal framework that makes them less vulnerable than in others countries where they have become a popular alternative source. Despite different legal framework for CSCs in Spain, Belgium, and Uruguay; these organizations share some problems, although certain challenges are exclusive to the Uruguayan experience. The following contains a preliminary SWOT analysis of UCCs.11
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Universidad Católica del Uruguay and the Open Society Foundations whose joint efforts funded data collection for this project. Special thanks go to Alejandra Triñanes and Mauricio Coitiño for their work as Research Assistants. We are grateful to two anonymous reviewers that helped us to better contextualize Uruguayan Cannabis Clubs and the differences among them and their counterparts in other parts of the world. Finally, our gratitude goes to all the authorities and
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2019, International Journal of Drug PolicyCitation Excerpt :Primarily in an initial phase, we conducted (unstructured) interviews and informal conversations with relevant stakeholders (n = 13), including policy-makers, activists, other researchers, and with individuals active in the cannabis industry (e.g. growshop owners). These individuals were identified based on previous research by the authors (Queirolo et al., 2016), and further snowballing. Next, we conducted semi-structured and face-to-face interviews with representatives6 of registered Uruguayan CSCs (n = 15).