First Cannabis-Based Medicinal Product Gets Approval In Brazil

Cannabis reform is spreading across South America. Uruguay was the first country on the entire planet to legalize cannabis for adult use, and a number of other countries have launched legal medical cannabis industries.

One country that has been somewhat slow to embrace legal cannabis is South America’s most populated country Brazil. Brazil’s medical cannabis program is largely just starting out, with the country having only recently approved its first cannabis-based medical product. Per Rio Times:

The National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) approved on Wednesday, April 22nd, the registration of the first marijuana-based product in the country.

It is a phytopharmaceutical product that contains cannabidiol and a concentration of less than 0.2 percent THC, the substance with psychotropic effects.

The product may be sold in pharmacies, provided there is a medical prescription. ANVISA states that the drug will be used in cases where there is no therapeutic alternative, but failed to specify which diseases would be benefited.

Late last year ANVISA approved rules for Brazil’s emerging medical cannabis industry, and at the same time, it decided to prohibit domestic medical cannabis production within Brazil which is really unfortunate.

Much like other countries around the world with very strict medical cannabis industry rules, Brazil’s medical cannabis program will be very limited in size until things open up.

Brazil is home to an ideal climate for cultivating the cannabis plant, and if/when Brazil decides to allow domestic cultivation and expand the list of qualifying conditions for medical cannabis, Brazil’s medical cannabis industry will increase in size exponentially.

Unfortunately for now, business opportunities will be limited in Brazil, as will be the potential for the country’s medical cannabis program to help a significant number of suffering patients.