Argentina: NGOs authorized to grow cannabis for 150 patients

The Argentinian Ministry of Health announced at the end of March that associations will now be able to legally cultivate cannabis plants for medical purposes for their members.

A resolution now published in the Official Gazette allows for the integration into Reprocann, the registry of users and cultivators managed by the Argentine Ministry of Health, of NGOs that will thus have authorization to legally produce cannabis.

Easier access to medical cannabis

Five years after the adoption of Law 27350, In Argentina, the medical use of cannabis was legalized by Law 27,350, sanctioned in March 2017. but who, until last year, did not guarantee access to this substance, the Ministry of Health has accepted the request from the Reprocann advisory council (composed of doctors, activists, scientists, and national officials) and now authorizes associations to cultivate for a maximum of 150 patients.

Organizations will be allowed to cultivate up to 15 square meters in various outdoor locations and up to 6 square meters indoors per person, provided they are duly authorized. Within these areas, a maximum of nine flowering plants may be held per user.

Consumer members of NGOs will also need to register with Reprocann and be linked on the platform to the doctor authorizing the prescription, as well as to the corresponding organization, in the role of third-party producers.

The rules applicable to organizations reflect those established for individual consumers. It is the same authorized cultivation area, the same number of plants, and the same permission to transport flowers or oil within Argentina: between one and six 30-milliliter bottles or up to 40 grams of dried flowers. The new development in this case is that the permission has been included to travel with plants, always in the quantity authorized per represented person.

One of the internal discussions that took place within the Advisory Council on this issue was precisely about the limit on the number of patients per organization. It was agreed that the limit should be 150, but there is a window for groups that exceed this number (some already do) to obtain an administrative permit from the National Program for the Study and Research of the Medicinal Use of the Cannabis Plant, within the Ministry of Health.

Mom Cultiva Argentina, one of the main associations who already grew cannabis for its members, celebrated the decision: «NGOs, which supported the demand, will be able to come out of hiding, and we know that this success is the result of our struggle. As always, it's another step. We are not satisfied, the struggle is useful, and we will seek more, but we think this is a good start for our work to be recognized, and our work during all these years, with the risk of criminalization,» said the organization's representative, Valeria Salech.

According to official estimates, 110,000 patients are registered in the national registry, and some 55,000 have already been approved. This registry does not limit the authorized pathologies, unlike the initial letter of Law 27,350, passed at the end of March 2017, which limited its use – without offering access methods – to patients with refractory epilepsy. In this case, only a medical indication and validation on the healthcare professional's official registration page are sufficient.