The International Politics of Cannabis Regulation in Uruguay. An Analysis of the Uruguayan Response to the Challenges and Opportunities from the International Drugs Regime

Abstract

This article analyses the international strategy followed by the government of Uruguay with regard to its policy of cannabis regulation. It seeks to answer four questions: (i) How did a small country like Uruguay manage to change its policy in an international environment a priori hostile to innovations? (ii) How did it manageto avoid the legal and political obstacles it faced? (iii) Which were the consequences for Uruguay in international terms? And (iv) which were the consequences for other countries and for the international drugs regime? After identifying three stages of the strategy, influenced by both exogenous and endogenous factors, we assert that a window opportunity, capitalized by state officials, allowed the government to secure the necessary degree of autonomy from the international stage to implement its desired policy.