Argentina legalizes the medical use of cannabis oil

After 5 hours of debate and a 58-0 vote, Argentina gave its final approval to the proposed law. we told you about last November, which legalizes the use of cannabis oil for therapeutic purposes. It also authorizes the government to grow cannabis for scientific and medical purposes, but cannabis oil can also be imported. A national program of the Ministry of Health will study the use of medicinal cannabis.

The measure has yet to be signed by President Mauricio Macri, whose party Cambiemos supported the bill. The proposal also had the support of all parties present at the plenary session, who agreed on the urgency of solving the problem. Senators were able to hear doctors and parents of sick children explain the benefits of the medical use of cannabis, which is already widespread in Argentina.

L’cannabis oil is primarily intended for use in the treatment of epilepsy and the alleviation of symptoms associated with chemotherapy. Eventually, patients and families of patients with specific pathologies will be able to register on a National Patient Register and benefit free of charge from cannabis-derived medicines.

«30% of epileptics don't respond to traditional drugs,» explains Ana Maria Garcia Nicora, the doctor who heads the group. Medical Cannabis Argentina, on Argentine television after the Senate voted in favor of the measure.

«My daughter has had epilepsy for 24 years and this is an option for her,» she says.

The Senators' only regret is that the proposed law does not authorize self-cultivation. A future law should regulate and control home-grown cannabis.

Chile and Colombia have passed similar laws, while Uruguay has already gone a step further by legalizing cannabis to take a lucrative business out of the hands of criminals.

Peru is also awaiting draft legislation which would legalize the medical use of cannabis oil for patients suffering from cancer, epilepsy, HIV, Alzheimer's disease or Asperger's syndrome, as a last resort. Brazil has authorized the marketing of Sativex in early January, a mouth spray designed, among other things, to relieve spasticity in multiple sclerosis, here too if conventional treatments have failed.