Costa Rica legalizes medical cannabis and hemp

On Wednesday morning, Carlos Alvarado, President of the Republic of Costa Rica, signed the law on medical cannabis and industrial hemp into law, one day after lawmakers gave it final approval, and after the president's first veto who did not want patients to grow their own cannabis.

Carlos Alvarado, however, supported the bill in principle, stating: «I want to make it absolutely clear that I support medical cannabis. I want to be able to sign this law into law. We exercised a partial veto and recommended three amendments to the text,» which were enough to ultimately pass a scaled-back version of the original proposal.

The president emphasized that this bill offers significant benefits for the country: «On the one hand, it alleviates pain or provides treatment to those who need it, and expands healthcare options for people. That is a major goal, and this law achieves it.»

«Another major benefit of this law is that hemp can be processed on an industrial scale, an activity that could revitalize our agriculture—particularly in our rural areas—through this crop and the new industry that could be developed from it,» he added.

The text must now be published in the Official Journal to take effect, nearly three years after the start the progress of the bill in the Legislative Assembly and a first appearance before Congress last October.

The law will allow Costa Rican authorities to grant licenses for the production of cannabis for medical purposes and hemp for industrial use.