Companies will soon be able to obtain licenses for the production and sale of medical cannabis in Paraguay
Paraguay will begin issuing licenses for the production of medical cannabis this October. 2% of all medical cannabis in Paraguay will be for the Ministry of Health, which will then give it to patients who need it for free. According to Julio Mazzoleni, Paraguayan Minister of Public Health and Social Welfare, 2% of medical cannabis in Uruguay will be destined for patients with epilepsy and Parkinson’s. In 2017, a law launched a national program in Paraguay on the use of cannabis and its derivatives for medical purposes. At the same time, the State began acquiring cannabis oil for medicinal purposes.
Paraguay legalized medical cannabis at the end of 2017, and in August 2018 approved the regulatory decree that explains how the law is supposed to be promulgated.
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The new regulation marks the regulation of medical cannabis in Paraguay. Congress has passed a bill that allows you to import cannabis seeds and grow the plant for medical uses. It is a decision that follows the trends established by other Latin American countries. Paraguay had already authorized the import of cannabis oil in May under the control of the Ministry of Health. The patients welcomed the decision to facilitate their availability. Roberto Cabanas, vice president of the medical cannabis organization in Paraguay, has said that it is good news because the new situation will allow the import of seeds for the production of cannabis oil. Cabanas’ daughter has Dravet syndrome and the family paid $ 300 a month for imported cannabis oil.
The cultivation of marijuana for recreational purposes in Paraguay is illegal. However this country is a key source of illegal cannabis trafficking to Brazil and Argentina.
The illegal export of marijuana in Paraguay attracts gangs and violence. Paraguay is a world pot of marijuana since this small South American country produces 9% of the world’s supply. But until recently it was not frequent to see police irruptions in marijuana crops or listen to helicopters in search of plantations. But all this is changing.
Last June members of Brazilian gangs killed the most prominent gangster in Paraguay. This criminal left a flourishing empire of marijuana and cocaine that is quickly becoming one of the biggest headaches of drug trafficking in South America and the struggle to control this illegal market is proving to be much more cruel and harsh than officials imagined. Paraguayans With thousands of square kilometers of farmland, Paraguay have a stable economy based on agriculture, and also produces the fourth largest marijuana crop in the world.
Paraguay has not had the violence and corruption that have allowed drug trafficking organizations to take root in other parts of South America. But its open borders and its central position in the continent, among other factors, have begun to attract more and more attention from the main drug gangs.
According to the country’s National Anti-Drug Secretariat, or SENAD, less than one percent of Paraguay’s population consumes marijuana. But considering that medical cannabis in Paraguay is a commercial crop with a better yield than soy, one of the country’s main legal exports, is very attractive to the government. Because now, almost all the marijuana that is grown in Paraguay is exported to the international black market. Officials said that about 20 percent of Paraguay’s marijuana export goes to Argentina and Chile. The other 80 percent cross the border with Brazil where several gangs of criminals buy and distribute it throughout the country.
Medical cannabis in Paraguay will be destined to meet its own needs but above all to supply the European market for therapeutic cannabis.
