Panama legalizes medical cannabis

On Wednesday October 20, Panama's President Laurentino Cortizo signed a bill authorizing the import, export, cultivation, production and sale of medical cannabis, a measure both applauded for the help it brings to patients and judged too modest by some.

The move adds Panama to the growing list of Latin American countries that have legalized cannabis for medical purposes, including the United States.’Argentina, Uruguay Colombia and Mexico.

Under the new law, the country's Ministry of Health will be responsible for issuing licenses for the manufacture and sale of medicines based on of cannabis, which will be subject to strict controls. At the same time, the law provides for the creation of a register of patients authorized to consume cannabis, which will include information such as the dosage required for each patient and the doctors authorized to prescribe the products.

While many cannabis advocates applauded the Assembly's effort to legalize medical cannabis, some opposed certain provisions.

The law stipulates, for example, that five years after its promulgation, a total of seven manufacturing licenses may be authorized «in order to supervise and monitor the development of the national market.»

Carlos Ossa, a medical cannabis activist and multiple sclerosis patient, says he doesn't understand why the bill sets a limit of seven licenses.

However, according to Congressman Raúl Fernández, the bill's sponsor, the limit on the number of licenses issued will not be a problem because «the market itself will gradually decide whether to grant more licenses.» The number seven is not a whim, he added. «It is the result of technical studies on our market.

Since Ossa was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2017, he says he has been forced to travel abroad to illegally bring back his cannabis-based medicines. «The first time I went to the National Assembly of Panama and said I was consuming cannabis, I was told I was going to be arrested».

This is not the first time that an attempt has been made to pass such a bill in Panama. The first was introduced in 2017 and a second proposal was presented in October 2019. Both bills were shelved because, according to Ossa, «there was neither the will nor the commitment of legislators at the time.» The country's National Assembly finally passed the latest bill unanimously on August 30.

While Ossa still hopes to see further revisions to expand the bill in the future, he says a little something is better than a lot of nothing.

«It's not the ideal law, but it's a necessary first step,» he says. «No country has legalized cannabis perfectly from the start. I believe legal frameworks are often perfected over time.»

Congressman Fernandez essentially agrees. «I think it's a law that hundreds of patients need right now,» he says.» It's not perfect, but it's perfectible."