[Anonymiss]

Uruguay has become the first country in the world to legally sell marijuana for recreational use.

Sixteen pharmacies started dispensing marijuana on Wednesday,

Almost 5,000 people have signed up to a national registry to be able to buy marijuana legally. They will be able to buy up to 10g (0.35oz) a week and no more than 40g a month.

The move comes four years after a law was passed which fully legalised the cannabis trade.

Supporters of the law argue that it will help stop the illegal trade in marijuana and put drug dealers out of business.

Customers will be able to choose from two varieties of marijuana dubbed Alpha 1 and Beta 1.

Both contain 2% Tetrahidrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive component of marijuana.

The price for five grams has been set at 187 Uruguayan pesos ($6.50; £5.00).

The marijuana sold at the pharmacies comes from state-supervised fields.

The law also allows users to grow their own at home or join co-operative clubs that farm it.

Officials said about 70% of people who had registered to buy marijuana from pharmacies where men, most of them aged between 30 and 44.

In order to avoid "marijuana tourism", only Uruguayan citizens and permanent residents are allowed to register.

-- Source: BBC

[Budgie]

2% THC?

[Anonymiss]

It's probably similar to street weed from the 80s, @Budgie.

Having said that, maybe it refers to the actual percentage of THC in the final product? I'm pretty sure that a bud of "25% THC" weed doesn't actually contain 25% THC by weight and that the figure there refers to how much of the oil/total cannabinoids is THC.



eta: But then again, I could be completely wrong about that:

"For the herbal cannabis samples (A-D), potency is expressed in percent, so that 1% equals 10 milligrams of a given cannabinoid per gram of plant material. For the tinctures (F-G), it is expressed in milligrams per milliliter (mg/ml)"

[Bubonik Chronic]

But they can grow at home so it's happy days for em