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Pharmacists in Uruguay refuse to become cannabis dealers Leonardo Haberkorn inews Wednesday 06 Jul 2016 In her 28 years as a pharmacist, Rossana Rilla has been beaten, dragged across the floor and threatened by thieves at gunpoint and with a grenade. Now, she fears that if she begins selling marijuana under Uruguay’s pioneering law that lets pharmacies distribute the drug, she will become an even bigger target for robbers and burglars. “You see their faces and you can tell right away that they are not consumers who are here just to buy marijuana,” she says of those who have been coming into her Montevideo pharmacy asking if she sells cannabis. She isn’t alone in avoiding the government’s marijuana programme. Most pharmacists haven’t signed on, citing security concerns and complaining of paperwork, cost increases or opposition from customers. Uruguay legalised the cultivation and sale of marijuana in 2013 to create the world’s first government-regulated national marketplace for cannabis. The goal was to fight rising murder and crime rates associated with drug trafficking in the South American country. But while the government wants to start selling marijuana at pharmacies in the coming weeks, only 50 out of 1,200 pharmacies are registered, fuelling a debate over how the drug should be distributed. Worries over competing with criminals “I don’t see the need to get into a conflict with people who are already selling weed in the neighbourhoods,” says Marcelo Trujillo, who owns three pharmacies in Montevideo’s Cerro district. “I just don’t want to expose myself or my employees.” Next to Trujillo, a worker is repairing glass that was shattered during a recent robbery attempt. The law allows for the growing of cannabis by licensed individuals, the formation of growers and users clubs, and the sale by pharmacies of 40g of marijuana a month to registered users. While the plan has been widely applauded globally, most Uruguayans oppose it. “My customers generally don’t agree with the plan,” says Isabel Regent, head of the Association of Interior Pharmacies, which represents businesses outside the capital, Montevideo. “Besides the fear of robberies, enrolling in the system means a hike in costs and having to be up to date with all the paperwork demanded by the health ministry, and not all pharmacies are in a condition to do this.” Regent owns a pharmacy in Punta del Este, an exclusive seaside resort where tens of thousands of tourists from neighbouring Argentina come to holiday each year. But she decided not to enrol in the government plan. She wouldn’t be able to sell cannabis to foreign tourists because the law only allows sales to Uruguayan citizens and legal residents over the age of 18. Pharmacies in three of the four Uruguayan states bordering Brazil have also declined to enrol in the plan. No studies have been conducted to see if pharmacists would face extra risks from selling cannabis, but most feel it’s just not worth the risk. “I don’t have the security conditions to sell marijuana,” says Mariana Etchessarry, from a pharmacy in Montevideo’s Cerro district. “I don’t understand why they can’t sell it at police stations. They’re located in every neighbourhood and have 24-hour security.” During a recent meeting with government officials, a union leader claimed that some pharmacists have been threatened by drug dealers,. However, the Interior Ministry said that no pharmacists had reported any threats to the police. Some pharmacists say their lack of interest in participating goes beyond security concerns. “I oppose [it] as a matter of principle,” says Julio Gadea. “I’ve been a pharmacist for 40 years. Pharmacies were created to sell medicines, not drugs.” Radical experiment Experts say that delays in the marijuana initiative stem from the fact that no other country has attempted such an ambitious endeavour and that authorities still lack detailed plans and rules for regulating the market. “We sell all legal drugs and if marijuana is now legal, there’s no reason not to sell it,” says a pharmacist who has enrolled in the programme – who asked not to be named because he did not want to upset his clients, who mostly oppose legalising cannabis. But he added: “I still don’t know if I’ll sell it. I’m missing a lot of information. They haven’t explained anything to us about the information programme that will be used or how the drug will be sold or how profitable it will be.” Several of the pharmacists say they hadn’t ruled out signing on later if the programme works The planting of cannabis in Uruguay has begun and it’s expected to be ready by late July, according to two government officials, who said that having only 50 pharmacies enrolled might work in the government’s favour because it will be easier to control. “We’re not ruling out using other networks or even vending machines,” one official said, adding that marijuana will be sold by mid to late July. https://inews.co.uk/essentials/news/world/pharmacists-uruguay-refuse-become-cannabis-dealers/
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