MONTEVIDEO: In a white, sterilized laboratory on the outskirts of Uruguayan capital Montevideo, biochemist Javier Varela and his team are carefully cultivating plants for a booming multibillion-dollar global market in medical marijuana.
Uruguay has been ahead of the curve. It was the first country to legalize the growing, sale and smoking of marijuana in December 2013 in a pioneering social experiment closely watched by other nations debating drug liberalization. Varela says it is vital to control the quality of the environment for the cannabis plants, especially given the high global standards needed for making medicines as well as in the handling of agricultural products.
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