An initiative proposes to legalize the essential oils of the marijuana plant for medicinal purposes in Costa Rica. This is the draft Law on Cannabis and Cannabis Production for Medical Purposes, presented last Monday by the National Integration Party (PIN) deputy, Zoila Rosa Volio Pacheco.
The proposal establishes as an objective “to regulate the mechanisms of planting, cultivation, harvesting, production, processing, storage, distribution, industrialization, commercialization, export, transportation, sale, use and consumption of Cannabis Sativa L (Marijuana) plants and their varieties, and the Cannabis plant or “Industrial Cannabis”, as well as the import and reproduction of seeds, sanitary registration of medicinal products, food supplements, cosmetics or food, all in accordance with the uses, ranges, presentations and purposes authorized in this law”, as stated in Article 1 of the text.
Last Tuesday, the congresswoman indicated that her project has 3 purposes: to give quality of life to people suffering from chronic painful diseases, in a terminal state or with treatments such as chemotherapy; generate employment by starting an “agro-industry”; and reduce the market and retail drug trafficking that patients who need to consume the plant.
Yesterday afternoon, I presented the Project “Cannabis and Cannabis Production Law for medicinal purposes”. It will allow us to create new jobs, through the planting, research and development of these products (1/2) pic.twitter.com/fnWTqbMKna — Zoila Rosa Volio (@zoilarosavolio), March 26th, 2019.
Volio said she had made a prior consultation with the Costa Rican Institute on Drugs (ICD), however, added that it would be necessary that this entity, as well as others that would be involved, refer to the initiative at the request of the Permanent Commission on Agricultural Affairs, which the legislator expects to be assigned.
Asked if the proposal is known to President Carlos Alvarado Quesada, or if she has been asked to summon him to extraordinary sessions, the integrationist said she has not talked to him yet, but will soon find a way to do so.
“This would provide a framework for the use of the cannabis plant and hemp, the plant, because it is not pure, extracting essential oils, separating Cannabidiol and THC (a main psychoactive constituent of cannabis) for medicinal use. Because it is all about: Okay, let’s make marijuana cigars and sell the cigar; it is just that they are just the essential oils of the plant, which is why I see this as an agro-industry”, Volio said. The deputy assured to feel motivated because the use and the medicinal production of that plant already are legal in 21 countries, at the time that represents a global market of more than a billion people.
