The overwhelming victory of a leftwing candidate in Uruguay’s presidential runoff vote this weekend means that the tiny South American country will move ahead with its plan to create the world’s first state-run marijuana marketplace.

But Tabaré Vázquez has made it very clear he has concerns about the marijuana law passed by his predecessor, José “Pepe” Mujica, the popular president from his own Frente Amplio (Broad Front) progressive party, whom he will succeed in March.

“There’s going to be a strict and close evaluation of the effect on society

of this law,” Vázquez warned during his electoral campaign. Although the

president-elect has said he will stand by legalization, his attitude to marijuana is ambivalent.

An oncologist by profession, Vázquez, 74, made health issues one of the main concerns during his previous presidential term between 2005 and 2010, and has declared himself worried over the health implications of marijuana sales. “First of all, you shouldn’t consume drugs,” he said in a recent television interview in which he described the law as primarily an “experiment”.

Two major aspects of the law have already gone into effect. Starting four months ago, individuals have been allowed to grow a maximum of six plants at home, while last month “marijuana clubs” were legalized, at which up to 45 individuals can band together to produce marijuana communally.

But when he assumes office next March 10, Vázquez will have to decide how to implement the third and most controversial aspect of the law, the sale of state-controlled marijuana to registered consumers at pharmacies.

“I don’t think a pharmacy is the right place to sell marijuana,” said Juan Vaz, one of the prime movers behind the long campaign to legalize marijuana and spokesman for a marijuana-related NGO, the Cannabis Study Association of Uruguay. “Marijuana should be sold by people who really know about the plant.”

Vaz, who also works at the Planeta Ganja grow shop in Montevideo, would like to see growers allowed to sell their produce through authorized specialty shops instead.

Vázquez has also expressed reservations about pharmacy sales. “I have some doubts that it could be completely succesful,” he said during the campaign, suggesting pharmacy owners could face violent retaliation from drug traffickers should their own sales be diminished.

That concern is dismissed as “naive” by Vaz. “That’s not how the world works. If traffickers were really concerned about competition they would have come against campaigners such as myself already,” Vaz said.

Despite a major victory at the polls on Sunday: 53% against 41% for conservative runner-up Luis Lacalle Pou of the National Party, Vázquez will still have to tread lightly should he decide to introduce any modifications to the law passed by Mujica.

The two have disagreeed in the past, particularly on abortion.

During his previous term as president, Vázquez vetoed a 2008 law legalizing abortion, which was finally made legal by Mujica. Mujica’s bloc in congress is still the largest and the outgoing president is expected to continue playing a major political role when he trades his presidential office for a seat in the senate next year.

Perhaps a hint of the direction Vázquez will take on marijuana and health can be had from his showdown with the international tobacco giant Philip Morris during his previous term of office.

When Vázquez passed tough anti-tobacco legislatio including a ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces, risk warnings covering 80% of cigarette packs and a ban on advertising and sponsorships. Philip Morris proceed to sue Uruguay. An arbitration ruling is still pending before the World Bank.

“Uruguay is not afraid of Philip Morris,” Vázquez proclaimed only a few months ago.

Observers expect Vázquez to be just as tough on marijuana as he has been on tobacco. “Natural organisms do not require drugs,” the doctor said during the campaign, saying drugs should only be taken under medical prescription.

“This path proposed by President Mujica and that I agree with, might be the solution - but it might not be.”

