To hear Juan Vaz tell it, a successful marijuana club in Uruguay is akin to a five-star restaurant.
“Today, we have to whet the palates of club members,” said Vaz, the technical adviser of Club Canabico Sativa in Montevideo, the small South American country’s capital. “We have to introduce them to the world of gourmet cannabis, which is the differentiator in our club.”
Uruguay’s Congress legalized the drug in 2013, and over the last year has steadily implemented various aspects of the law. Late last year, the government began registering growers clubs, which are allowed to cultivate up to 99 plants and can have a maximum of 45 members.
The clubs, which are sprouting up around Montevideo, are essentially giant greenhouses where members can grow plants to their liking and, of course, smoke a joint or two to test a harvest.
While the law has brought many smokers out in the open, the clubs do have several strict regulations. For example, it’s illegal to be a club member and home grower at the same time or join more than one club.
Joining Canabico Sativa requires a $400 enrollment fee and then monthly payments of $92. Much of that goes to maintaining the equipment needed to grow top quality weed. The club has dehumidifiers, fans, air conditioning units and carbon filters, all to nurture every step of the plants’ development.
Joaquin Fonseca, president of Canabico Sativa, said after each harvest members vote on which plant produced the best buds.
“We have very high quality here,” he said. “And I’m happy because I get to smoke it.”
Click on any image below to launch the gallery.
In this May 25, 2015 photo, marijuana buds hang to dry from a rope, with a map of the city of Montevideo stuck to the wall, at the Manga Rosa Social Club, in Montevideo, Uruguay. Marijuana clubs undertake production and distribution between their members and became legal in Uruguay since 2013. Clubs can have between 15 and 45 members and grow up to 99 marijuana plants with flowers. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)
In this May 25, 2015 photo, Alvaro Calistro, president of the Manga Rosa Social Club, smokes a joint in the living room of his house where he has a marijuana club in Montevideo, Uruguay. The clubs, which are sprouting up around Montevideo, are essentially giant greenhouses where members can grow plants to their liking and, of course, smoke a joint or two to test a harvest. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)
In this May 14, 2015 photo, Joaquin Fonseca, president of the Club Canabico Sativa, left center, and Juan Vaz, a technical advisor, pose in a controlled temperature room, overflowing with with flowering marijuana plants at the Club Canabico Sativa, a marijuana club in Montevideo, Uruguay. Joining Canabico Sativa requires a $400 enrollment fee and then monthly payments of $92. Much of that goes to maintaining the equipment needed to grow top quality weed. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)
This May 14, 2015 photo shows a 10-gram bag of the Amnesia marijuana variety ready for distribution at the Club Canabico Sativa, a marijuana club in Montevideo, Uruguay. Uruguay’s Congress legalized the drug in 2013, and over the last year has steadily implemented various aspects of the law. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)
In this May 25, 2015 photo, a tire is used as a vessel for growing plants, including marijuana, in the Manga Rosa Social Club garden, in Montevideo, Uruguay. While the new law has brought many marijuana smokers out in the open, the clubs do have several strict regulations. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)
In this May 14, 2015 photo, marijuana buds hang from a line at the Club Canabico Sativa, a marijuana club in Montevideo, Uruguay. “Today, we have to wet the palates of club members,” said Juan Vaz, the technical adviser of Club Canabico Sativa, in Montevideo. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)
In this May 14, 2015 photo, Laura Blanco trims a marijuana plant in a greenhouse at the Club Canabico Sativa, a marijuana club in Montevideo, Uruguay. The club has dehumidifiers, fans, air conditioning units and carbon filters, all to nurture every step of the plants’ development. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)
In this May 25, 2015 photo, a flowering marijuana plant is seen under a rope with clothes in the garden of the Manga Rosa Social Club, a marijuana club with 15 members in Montevideo, Uruguay. Under the new regulations it’s illegal to be a club member and home grower at the same time or join more than one club. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)
In this May 31, 2015 photo, a man, left, lights a marijuana joint in Montevideo, Uruguay. Uruguay’s Congress legalized the drug in 2013, and over the last year has steadily implemented various aspects of the law. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)
In this May 25, 2015 photo, Martin, a member of the Manga Rosa Social Club, a marijuana club, smokes a joint in the garden where marijuana plants are cultivated in Montevideo, Uruguay. The clubs, which are sprouting up around Montevideo, are essentially giant greenhouses where members can grow plants to their liking and, of course, smoke a joint or two to test a harvest. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)
In this May 14, 2015 photo, Laura Blanco trims a marijuana plant inside a greenhouse on the roof of the Club Canabico Sativa, a marijuana club in Montevideo, Uruguay. Joaquin Fonseca, president of Canabico Sativa, said after each harvest members vote on which plant produced the best buds. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)
In this May 14, 2015 photo, Joaquin Fonseca, right, president of the Club Canabico Sativa, fills a receipt and receives payment from a member of the club in Montevideo, Uruguay. Joining Canabico Sativa requires a $400 enrollment fee and then monthly payments of $92. Also according to the new legislation it’s illegal to be a club member and home grower at the same time or join more than one club. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)
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2 thoughts on “Marijuana Clubs Sprouting up in Uruguay”
Pueden hacer todos los descubrimientos que quieran, pero eso de liberalizar la comercialización de las drogas no me parece.
Si se le debe suministrar marihuana o lo que sea a determinados enfermos, entonces que determinados laboratorios la siembren y la procesen, esto bajo un estricto control de precios, ya que según tengo entendido la siembra, cultivo o lo que sea de este producto necesite, es muy bajo, casi CON UN COSTO CERO.
AP Images Blog 
Pueden hacer todos los descubrimientos que quieran, pero eso de liberalizar la comercialización de las drogas no me parece.
Si se le debe suministrar marihuana o lo que sea a determinados enfermos, entonces que determinados laboratorios la siembren y la procesen, esto bajo un estricto control de precios, ya que según tengo entendido la siembra, cultivo o lo que sea de este producto necesite, es muy bajo, casi CON UN COSTO CERO.
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