New Industry in Uruguay: Products for Home Growers

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Ancillary companies that provide products tied to home cannabis cultivation might find some promising opportunities way south of the U.S. border.

Stores are popping up all over Uruguay to cater to a burgeoning number of home marijuana cultivation enthusiasts, according to a report from Fox News Latino.

There are at least 20 stores in the country peddling soil for cannabis, books on cultivation, marijuana gardening gear, irrigation systems, temperature and humidity controls, and other cultivation-related products. Some U.S.-based companies might be able to find a foothold in these stores, if they haven’t already.

Uruguay legalized marijuana for personal use in 2013 and then-President Jose Mujica signed the legislation in May 2014, but the industry has been slow to get started. Thus far, home cultivation is the only legal method of procuring cannabis, which is one of the reasons specialty gardening stores have been proliferating.

Residents are allowed to grow up to six plants at home, but they have to register with the government. Registration for home growers opened in August last year, leading to the boom in home cultivation products.

Demand probably won’t slow down any time soon either, because it looks as though the government-run marijuana growing and retailing program likely won’t be getting started any time in the near future.

So the only supply for recreational users will continue to be either from the black market or personal cultivation.