Costa Rica legalizes medical cannabis and hemp for food and industrial use

The Costa Rican Parliament approved the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes and also hemp for food and industry, with 33 votes in favor and 13 against. The news was advanced by the country's National Assembly on Twitter and the government wants 40% of cultivation licenses to be for small agricultural companies and cooperatives, in order to favor the local economy and small farmers.

“File 21.388 – Law on Cannabis for Medicinal and Therapeutic Use and Hemp for Food and Industrial Use” was approved in the first debate. The proposal was promoted by independent deputy Zoila Volio and initially faced rejection by the National Restoration Party and the New Republic bloc, who considered it a threat to national security and families.

The Citizen Action Party (PAC), the majority in the government, valued the initiative, considering it an important step for the benefit of the agricultural sector and people diagnosed with disease. The PAC bench wants the regulation reserve 40% of cultivation licenses for small agricultural companies, cooperatives and small production, in order to favor local enterprises and small farmers, who need these opportunities.

“We must also seek to regulate cannabis in its psychoactive variant, not just medicinal and industrial. International experience tells us that the ban on this use does not fulfill the purposes it supposedly pursues and favors drug trafficking,” said official deputy Enrique Sánchez. “No plant is bad per se, the important thing is the uses that are put to it, the appropriate uses”, said José María Villalta, deputy of Frente Amplio.

The Ministry of Health will now determine the levels of cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) that the products may contain, through technical and scientific studies.