According to Julio Sánchez, Mexico’s commissioner of the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risk (COFEPRIS), patients in the nation are expected to have access to medical cannabis products in the first quarter of 2018, according to a Riviera-Maya report.
What’s allowed under the federal medical cannabis regime? Medical companies can import cannabis-based products such as food supplements, cosmetics, and beverages. Patients must obtain permits from the federal government to access cannabis-derived products. Personal cultivation is not allowed.
So far, the nation has issued 294 individual permits authorizing the importation of CBD-rich products – 80 percent of which are for pediatric patients with dermatological conditions, epilepsy, or cancer. Regulators have turned down 431 requests over the last two years by individuals seeking permission to use cannabis recreationally; seven of those have been brought to the Supreme Court.
President Enrique Peña Nieto must still sign the medical cannabis use bill, which includes language permitting scientific research. The measure passed the legislature 371-11.
Mexico joins the ranks of Colombia, Peru, and Chile as the latest Latin American country to legalize medical cannabis use. Uruguay is currently the only Latin American nation to have legalized cannabis use for adults.
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