Pubdate: Sun, 29 Dec 2013
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2013 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Leonardo Haberkorn, The Associated Press

NEW LAW BRINGS OUT URUGUAY POT GROWERS

Marijuana Shops Make Plans For Expansion

Montevideo, Uruguay (AP) - Juan Andres Palese was using a fake name in
public when he opened Uruguay's first store dedicated to cultivating
marijuana, where he offered growing equipment and advice but no
illegal plants or seeds.

Now that President Jose Mujica's plan to create and regulate the
world's first national marijuana market has the force of law, Palese's
plans have grown.

His tiny shop, Urugrow, is already too small to support a rising
number of clients, and he'll be moving to a larger, higher-profile
locale soon. Once the law's regulations are in place, he said he hopes
to openly sell seeds and cuttings along with all the tools anyone
needs to legally grow up to six plants in their own home.

The symbols of marijuana are in full bloom in Uruguay: T-shirts
featuring designs of pot leaves are sold on the streets, and the
radio carries the music of Jamaican singer Bob Marley.

But the people who are so enthusiastically buying potting soil, lights
and irrigation equipment to start their own marijuana gardens also
could be buying trouble from police if they don't wait to start
cultivating the weed until after the state launches its registration
and licensing system, the nation's drug czar said Thursday.

"From a strictly formal point of view, you still can't. Until the
regulations are in place, there's no way to legally have marijuana
plants in your house," said Julio Calzada, secretary general of the
national drug junta, on Uruguay's Radio Universal.

Once registered and licensed, any Uruguayan adult will be allowed to
choose one of three options: grow plants at home, join a pot-growing
club or buy marijuana cigarettes from pharmacies, Calzada said.

Meanwhile, even as the law's fine print is being written, he said
judges have clearer guidelines for separating marijuana smoking, which
has long been legal in Uruguay, from selling the drug, which remains
illegal for now. Palese is content to wait a bit longer to open his
larger store.

"The law is a great way to start with this issue," he said. "For us,
it's really useful."  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D