Today in History, December 23: Uruguay legalises recreational cannabis use

The day Uruguay's one-time guerilla president Jose "Pepe" Mujica signed a law legalising recreational marijuana use in 2013 was rather anti-climactic.

Queues did not start forming until 2017 — when sales began. "We sold 1,250 packages in six hours. There was a two-block queue to get marijuana," one pharmacist told the BBC.

Only 16 pharmacies were authorised to sell cannabis to registered users in the small South American country. Two companies were licensed to produce low tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) cannabis for sale and adults were also permitted to grow up to six plants at home, or they could become members of "social clubs" and cultivate plants collectively.

Mujica called the world-first legislation a "contribution to humanity".

Proponents argued legalising marijuana would help fight drug trafficking and improve the social and health issues associated with drug use.

But most Uruguayans opposed legalising cannabis, polls showed at the time.

'Gripped by drug-related crime'

Canada, Germany, Luxembourg, Malta, South Africa, and some US states have all followed Uruguay and legalised recreational cannabis use. Many more countries have legalised the drug for medical use.

The Netherlands, despite being the country most associated with marijuana use, continues in legal limbo.

In Uruguay, the experiment has had mixed results. There has not been an explosion of marijuana use as some feared, but the BBC has reported there is still a lucrative black market for the drug. When it comes to drug trafficking, the country has experienced a rise in drug-related crime thanks to smugglers using its port to move cocaine to Europe.

The debate about the merits of legalising marijuana is far from settled. In Australia, support for legalisation has been growing steadily. Nothing like what people had to say about the issue in 1971 when the ABC headed onto the streets of Hobart to ask if marijuana should be legal: