Registered Uruguayan Cannabis Consumers

• In 2014, Uruguay became the world’s first country to legalize adult-use cannabis: Citizens may access it through pharmacies, membership in clubs, or self-cultivation.
• The most common way that Uruguayans access legal cannabis is through pharmacies, and the number of such customers has been rising — now 77% of registrants patronize pharmacies, up from 68% in April 2018; in the past 11 months, pharmacy registrations have increased 50%.
• Since the adult-use program’s inception, Uruguay’s pharmacies have faced supply challenges due whether to limits regulating the volume of cannabis afforded to pharmacies, or complications along the supply chain.
• Only two companies—ICC and Symbiosis—are permitted to cultivate psychoactive cannabis for the nation’s 17 licensed pharmacies.
• To address increased demand for pharmacy-supplied cannabis, Uruguay’s regulating agency, the IRCCA, began accepting applications for additional psychoactive cannabis cultivators; it will grant up to 5 new licenses to applicants whether domestic or foreign.

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