Which was the first country in the world to legalize the sale of limited quantities of cannabis in pharmacies to registered users and to cultivate it under state control?

Pharmacies are the only places allowed to sell recreational marijuana in Uruguay and - partly because of the restrictions facing banks - there are only 17 doing so in a country of 3.5 million people.

The system is tightly controlled. Customers have to register with the regulator and then are limited to buying 10 grams a week, enough for about 20 joints.

The regulator also controls how strong the marijuana is. The level of THC - the psychoactive part of cannabis that gets you high - is limited and balanced with the level of CBD, another compound in the plant that's said to have a calming effect.

President Jose Mujica signed legislation to legalize recreational cannabis in December 2013, making Uruguay the first country in the modern era to legalize cannabis. In August 2014, Uruguay legalized growing up to six plants at home, as well as the formation of growing clubs, a state-controlled marijuana dispensary regime, and the creation of a Cannabis regulatory institute (Instituto de Regulación y Control del Cannabis or IRCCA). In October 2014 the Government began registering growers' clubs, allowed in turn to grow a maximum of 99 cannabis plants annually; as of August 2015, there were 2,743 registered personal growers. After a long delay in implementing the retail component of the law, in 2017 sixteen pharmacies were authorized to sell cannabis commercially.