Santa Cannabis: From Granny's Health to Civil Disobedience

On the island of Santa Catarina, a tropical paradise in southern Brazil, is one of the most Portuguese capitals in the country: Florianópolis, where the islanders still carry traces of the Azorean accent. In this city, the first association of cannabis patients in the Southern Region operates, the Santa Cannabis, which in two years has treated more than 600 people with oils made from the plant. But how is it possible, if in Brazil growing cannabis is prohibited? Thanks to a lot of courage and civil disobedience.

Currently, cannabis medicines cost around 300 euros in Brazilian pharmacies and, with the depreciated real, importing is out of the question for most. Therefore, it is the patient associations that guarantee treatments with CBD and THC for low-income families. There are now more than 40 associations spread across the country, but only two have legal authorization to plant. All others operate outside the law. 

Pedro Sabaciauskis, President of Santa Cannabis, with his grandmother Edna. Photo: DR

From bed to kitchen and knitting
Santa Cannabis started in 2019, after a grandson's struggle to treat his grandmother, who has Parkinson's, with cannabis. She is Dona Edna, a lady then 82 years old, who was already bedridden. It was at this time that Pedro Sabaciauskis, President of Santa Cannabis, discovered that, in the United States, they were successfully treating Parkinson's patients through cannabis. Pedro took his grandmother to a doctor and left with a prescription. Against the family's wishes, he bought the oil from an association and began to treat his grandmother with the drops prescribed by the doctor. Dona Edna returned to cooking and knitting, two of her passions. “I no longer spoke. Cannabis was a miracle for me.”, says Dona Edna. The oil was purchased from Abracam, which is located in Ceará, 3.500 km away, because there was no association in the south of Brazil, a more conservative region. “I used to share videos of my grandmother on Facebook, showing how she got better, and many friends also wanted to use the miracle oil. I recommended Abracam, but Thomas, who is the president of the association, suggested that I open a new one in Florianópolis. This is how Santa Cannabis was born”, says Pedro.

“Gardeners” risk jail
Unlike drugstore products, which are isolated from CBD or THC, association oils are made entirely with flowers, that is, they are full-spectrum and have greater therapeutic potential, in addition to being much cheaper. That's why they are so sought after. Both the cultivation of the plants and the extraction process are done by people called “gardeners”.

Despite producing a cure for many people, when they are arrested, the “gardeners” are tried for drug trafficking. The most recent case took place in March, when two men were arrested at the border with Paraguay, with 4,5 liters of extract used in the production of oils. One of them, Paulo Coelho, from Ama+Me, said that the seizure of the extract left hundreds of patients untreated. There is also a case that mobilizes activists in Brazil, that of Márcio Pereira, who is serving 7 years in prison for trafficking, after being arrested with the weed that would be used by a cancer patient.

Santa Cannabis associates during a seminar on autism in Florianópolis. Photo: DR

The “gardeners” who produce the oils offered through Santa Cannabis, to this day, have never been arrested. And one of the association's strategy is not to hide. The entity has a company registration, a fixed address and seeks the right to plant and produce the medicine of its more than 500 associates. It's not just the “gardeners”, but even those who cultivate just for themselves are arrested. This is the situation of Ivan, from Florianópolis, who produced the oil at home for his autistic daughter. The girl took Risperidone, a drug that left her sedated, without social interaction. “With artisanal oil, she became more expansive, pays attention to things around her, sings, likes to water plants. She doesn't even drool anymore." The success of the treatment was not enough to guarantee Ivan's freedom. “My house was raided without a warrant by the police. There was no traffic here. But they took me to the police station. I was detained until the next day at the custody hearing, when I was released, as I am a first-time defendant. Now I'm doing all my regularization, which is having a medical prescription, follow-up by lawyers. My intention is to get a Habeas Corpus to cultivate and not suffer this abuse anymore”.

Habeas Corpus
O Habeas Corpus it is a legal way that Brazilians found to plant cannabis and produce their own medicine. There are already more than 200 favorable decisions in the country, four of them from Santa Cannabis associates. “It is a paradoxical situation in Brazilian justice. The patient needs to start an illegal activity, which is to plant at home, prove through medical reports that the treatment has improved his condition, and only then go to court and to the criminal sphere, to try to legalize the planting”, explains lawyer Raquel Schramm. , legal director of Santa Cannabis.

Judges demand training in cultivation and extraction
One requirement that judges have made of patients seeking this right in court is to take courses in cultivation and extraction. And this is yet another front on which Santa Cannabis operates, as it has already promoted seven courses. In other words, Santa Cannabis facilitates access to information and treatments, while seeking the right to cultivate in court, but also helps patients themselves to plant at home and legalize their crops. In November 2019, Pedro Sabaciauskis participated in the Cannadouro conferences and told his story. Now, he wants to bring this model to Portugal and has already assembled a team of people from Brazil, Porto and Lisbon, including a Brazilian lawyer who will come to Portugal to try the first culture HC on a Portuguese patient. Cannadouro Magazine readers will be able to follow this story here.

More than 30 cannabis associations unite in Federation
A dream nurtured for at least three years by medical cannabis activists in Brazil began to come true at the end of April. The Federation of Therapeutic Cannabis Associations (Fact) was founded, with representatives from 36 associations, and the neuroscientist Sidarta Ribeiro was elected president, one of the greatest references today in studies with cannabis and psychedelics, who highlighted the importance of people from different positions and from all regions of the country to ally for the same cause. “Fact is the representation of the interests of the majority of the population that cannot participate in this oligopoly market of large companies. It arises to fight for the interests of everyone who wants, seeks and is entitled to treatment.” For Sheila Geriz, coordinator and spokesperson for the institution, Fact was born with the aim of fighting for fair and inclusive regulation, especially for individual cultivation, an activity that is not contemplated in Bill 399, which legalizes planting for medicinal purposes. and industrial, and which is due to be voted on in the coming weeks.
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This article was originally published in #2 of Cannadouro Magazine