Argentina Legalizes Medical Cannabis

Medical cannabis is now legal in the South American country of Argentina.

The Argentinian Senate unanimously voted in favor of medical cannabis legalization. In addition to granting cannabis to qualifying patients, the new law puts in place regulations that allow for medical and scientific research. Prior to this news, the country’s House of Representatives had approved the bill last November.

This news is followed with much support from medical cannabis consumers and organizations everywhere. “It’s heartening to see Argentina prioritizing accessibility by providing medical marijuana at no cost to patients,” says Hannah Hetzer, Senior International Policy Manager at the Drug Policy Alliance. “This bill was long championed by families and patients whose suffering has been alleviated with medical marijuana, and it’s a relief they’ve finally been heard.”

The Argentinian government will be in charge of all cannabis production for both patients and scientific endeavors. Until the system is up and running though they will import cannabis to fulfill the demand. Individuals caught growing cannabis on their own can still be incarcerated for up to two years for personal growth and as many as 15 years if you are caught growing cannabis commercially.

The President of Medical Cannabis Argentina (CAMEDA), Ana Maria Garcia Nicora, feels that the country is moving in the right direction.

“This law is the beginning . . . we achieved something important because we raised awareness and then implemented legislation for the benefit of everyone . . . however, it is clear that individual cultivation is very important, we need to keep working” she said.

Latin America has been a hotbed of cannabis legalizations. In 2013 Uruguay legalized cannabis nationwide for both recreational and medical purposed. Colombia decriminalized cannabis in 2014. Puerto Rico legalized medical cannabis in 2016. Recently Mexico and Brazil have begun importing cannabis for their medical programs and Costa Rica and Peru both have legislation in the works to legalize recreational cannabis.

Meanwhile in the United States, 28 states have legalized medical cannabis, and eight of those states have also legalized recreational cannabis.