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Uruguay makes first commercial marijuana export shipment

September 24, 2019 GMT

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CORRECTS SHIPMENT TO 10 KILOS - In this Jan. 30, 2019 photo, a worker shows freshly clipped marijuana leaves at Fotmer, in Nueva Helvecia, Uruguay. Uruguayan based company Fotmer confirms the recent shipment of approximately 10 kilos of medicinal marijuana to Australia. This export of the product by the US-Uruguayan joint venture company is part of a medicinal marijuana industry that many hope will become a moneymaker for the South American country. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)

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MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — Uruguay has made its first commercial export shipment of marijuana since legalizing the drug in 2013, sending 10 kilograms of cannabis to Australia, where its medicinal use is lawful.

The Fotmer company made an earlier shipment to Germany, but officials say that consisted of samples rather than goods for market.

The government cited export earnings as one of its goal when it became the first country to create a national, regulated legal marijuana industry.