On Tuesday, June 8, a special committee of the House of Representatives of Brazil passed a bill that authorizes the cultivation of cannabis for medical, veterinary, scientific, and industrial purposes.

Government supporters did their best to prevent the legislation from entering the upper house for final approval, but a key vote by Deputy Luciano Ducci ensured the passage of the bill.

Although the new law will legalize cannabis cultivation, it will actually impose a series of restrictions, only allowing companies, patient associations and non-governmental organizations to grow it. If the text is approved in its current form, personal cultivation will still be illegal.

ANVISA (an analogue of Brazil and the FDA) has allowed the import of certain drugs made from cannabis, but the price is too high for most patients. For example, patients with Alzheimer’s disease are likely to spend more than 10,000 reais (approximately US$2,000) a month to import the drugs they need, so it is limited to those who can afford such high prices and People whose imports are delayed. To complicate matters, patients cannot purchase consumer products for more than one month.

It is not clear whether the House of Lords will approve the law. However, it is obvious that the Bolsonaro government firmly opposes any form of cannabis use, saying it opens the door to a wide range of recreational uses. In short, they believe that if any concessions are made to this evil herb, the entire country will be stoned every day.

stay tuned! We will continue to track the progress of Brazilian cannabis legalization in our office in Sao Paulo.