Robert Celt
New Member
Argentina has a growing almost-legal marijuana industry.
Entrepreneurs are producing profits from a budding sector: marijuana gardening. Grow shops in Buenos Aires are flourishing by selling everything but the plant's seeds.
Buenos Aires' cannabis industry is a little odd in that the business consists of everything except the cannabis itself.
"I always explain that I cover 99 percent of the business," Ignacio Goyret, owner of the grow shop Basta de Lobby, said. "I don't touch the seeds, and that's the remaining 1 percent."
Sales of marijuana seeds and products with THC, the active chemical in cannabis, is illegal. However, there are no restriction on the sale of flower pots, fertilizer and other equipment used to grow marijuana.
Courts in Argentine have tolerated marijuana possession for personal use and have allowed medicines containing THC in specific cases. Nevertheless, if police find the plants themselves, there will be problems with the law.
"Many people are interested," Sebastian Basalo, director of THC Magazine, said. "We aren't talking about people only interested in the recreational use of cannabis. We are talking about a plant that has shown its value in recent medical research, and has increasing medical use."
The industry is just starting to blossom in Argentina, but to the east, Uruguay already allows research, medical and recreational use. Western neighbor Chile regulated research and medical use.
Goyret, and other businessmen like him, think marijuana will be legal in Argentina soon, and he thinks the 20 shops similar to his in Buenos Aires, the country's capital, will go from just being profitable to striking it rich.
Colorado legalized marijuana for recreational use, creating an industry of $1 billion for its 5.5 million people. Buenos Aires and the surrounding areas have three times the population of Colorado, and grow shops are hoping for a storm of profitability.
Goyret's store has been open since 2009 and employs five people, but its impact goes beyond retail.
"We require fertilizer and we use a logistics network because we have to transport many goods," Goyret said. "I have to get soil, pots and other products, and that creates further economic growth."
For a country with a relatively small manufacturing sector, the promise of a new industry suggests a trickle-effect could take place.
A bill introduced into Argentina's legislature in 2012 that would legalize planting and consuming marijuana for personal use isn't currently on the government's agenda.
For now, there is only hope for an industry that buds but can't flower.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Cannabis Industry Thrives In Argentina Despite Not Selling Plants
Author: Staff
Photo Credit: CNN
Website: WDAM
Entrepreneurs are producing profits from a budding sector: marijuana gardening. Grow shops in Buenos Aires are flourishing by selling everything but the plant's seeds.
Buenos Aires' cannabis industry is a little odd in that the business consists of everything except the cannabis itself.
"I always explain that I cover 99 percent of the business," Ignacio Goyret, owner of the grow shop Basta de Lobby, said. "I don't touch the seeds, and that's the remaining 1 percent."
Sales of marijuana seeds and products with THC, the active chemical in cannabis, is illegal. However, there are no restriction on the sale of flower pots, fertilizer and other equipment used to grow marijuana.
Courts in Argentine have tolerated marijuana possession for personal use and have allowed medicines containing THC in specific cases. Nevertheless, if police find the plants themselves, there will be problems with the law.
"Many people are interested," Sebastian Basalo, director of THC Magazine, said. "We aren't talking about people only interested in the recreational use of cannabis. We are talking about a plant that has shown its value in recent medical research, and has increasing medical use."
The industry is just starting to blossom in Argentina, but to the east, Uruguay already allows research, medical and recreational use. Western neighbor Chile regulated research and medical use.
Goyret, and other businessmen like him, think marijuana will be legal in Argentina soon, and he thinks the 20 shops similar to his in Buenos Aires, the country's capital, will go from just being profitable to striking it rich.
Colorado legalized marijuana for recreational use, creating an industry of $1 billion for its 5.5 million people. Buenos Aires and the surrounding areas have three times the population of Colorado, and grow shops are hoping for a storm of profitability.
Goyret's store has been open since 2009 and employs five people, but its impact goes beyond retail.
"We require fertilizer and we use a logistics network because we have to transport many goods," Goyret said. "I have to get soil, pots and other products, and that creates further economic growth."
For a country with a relatively small manufacturing sector, the promise of a new industry suggests a trickle-effect could take place.
A bill introduced into Argentina's legislature in 2012 that would legalize planting and consuming marijuana for personal use isn't currently on the government's agenda.
For now, there is only hope for an industry that buds but can't flower.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Cannabis Industry Thrives In Argentina Despite Not Selling Plants
Author: Staff
Photo Credit: CNN
Website: WDAM
