Brazil OK's Medical Marijuana, Denies Cannabis Cultivation

On Tuesday, December 3, 2019, Brazil’s pharmaceutical regulator Avinsa approved regulations for the roll-out of medicinal cannabis-based products (1). However, it denied a proposal that would allow domestic medical marijuana plantations. According to Anvisa, the new regulations will be published in Brazil’s official gazette in the next few days; 90 days later, they will come into law. The regulatory body also set out specific rules for the manufacture, import, sale, packaging, marketing, and regulation of the new class of cannabis-based products.

This is a major step, given the country’s amount of drug-related violence. But Brazil still trails Uruguay and Colombia in regard to cultivation. In 2013, Uruguay legalized the growing, selling, and smoking of marijuana. Colombia followed suit shortly after, being the second Latin American country to legalize medicinal marijuana.

Anvisa said that cannabis-based products will only be available for sale in registered pharmacies, and with a prescription.

Read the full report on Reuters.

References:

1. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-marijuana/brazil-approves-medical-marijuana-rules-blocks-cannabis-cultivation-idUSKBN1Y726W