How Much Will Pot Cost In Uruguay? $1 Per Gram For Newly Legalized Marijuana

Julio Calzada, secretary of Uruguay's National Commission on Drugs, told Spanish newspaper El Pais on Sunday that his country's government is planning to sell marijuana at $1 per gram, or about three cigarettes' worth. The Southern Cone country became the first in the world to legalize and regulate the production, distribution and sale of marijuana after the Uruguayan Congress passed a historic bill and President José Mujica signed it into law in August. Sales, which will be made from licensed pharmacies to Uruguayan citizens who register with a government agency, are slated to begin in the second half of 2014, according to Calzada. "It takes time to harvest and sell it," he told the paper.

Individuals who fulfill the aforementioned requirements will be permitted to buy up to 40 grams per month, although that quantity could vary depending on the level of THC -- the plant's main psychoactive element. Individuals will also be able to cultivate up to six plants of marijuana. In August, after the law was passed, Calzada had set the price higher, saying it would be at around $2.50 per gram. But he said in the El Pais article that the idea is not to make money, but rather to take control of the market away from illegal dealers, and as such that the price would have to be competitive. "The illegal market is full of risk and low-quality. The State is going to offer a safe place to buy it, a good-quality product and, on top of it, it's going to sell it at the same price," he told the paper.

"The cost of marijuana at the store has to be assimilated to the range at which legal marijuana is obtained. We're saying that the price today of the Paraguayan product, which is what is usually sold here, is in the area of a dollar a gram. So with that in mind, we're going to put marijuana produced under state control also in the area of that price," said Calzada. For $1, consumers will be able to get what Calzada said was the equivalent of "one thick cigarette or two or three smaller ones". According to the Uruguayan National Commission on Drugs, the marijuana to be cultivated should have between 5% and 12% THC. Calzada said that more than that quantity could pose serious health problems and "difficulties with studying, working and relationships in general". He added that the Commission is exploring other ways in which the plant might be consumed, including low-fat brownies.

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