Colombian President Iván Duque announced on Sunday the approval of new legislation that will regulate the use of medical marijuana in food, beverages and textiles and authorize the export of the dried flower.
The government issued resolution 227 of 2022, which regulates the decree passed last year in relation to licenses, quotas and authorizations for safe and informed access to the use of marijuana and the plant, its derivatives and products.
“This resolution allows, defines and establishes all the mechanisms and procedures for the industrial use of marijuana in sectors such as food, beverages and also textile uses, defining, of course, that these uses have to do with the non-psychoactive component”, he explained. the president in a statement at the Casa de Nariño.
Duque said that with this new regulation, Colombia will be “at the forefront of regulating the use of medical marijuana in Latin America and the Caribbean and, of course, its industrial uses.”
These new protocols will allow the food, textile and beverage sectors to use non-psychoactive components and “offer products that are being demanded in domestic and foreign markets”, analyzed the representative.
“With this decision, we are sending a message so that the medical marijuana industry can flourish in the country. It is with actions that we are fulfilling our campaign promise for the sector”, concluded Duque.
Along with Duque, the Minister of Health, Fernando Ruiz Gómez, considered this new legislation “very important” to guarantee “good manufacturing practices” and indicated that the initiative opens the door to the “production of dietary supplements”, among others.
The president added that progress has already been made “in terms of credits for small and medium producers” through the Agrarian Bank, with which “medical marijuana producers will be facilitated.”
Studies contradict the decision
While proponents of marijuana decriminalization defend the medicinal benefits of cannabis-derived cannabidiol, research published in December last year addresses the risks of cannabis use.
A study by the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute identified, for example, 522 pediatric emergencies due to marijuana exposure, of which 61% occurred in the edible phase. The researchers’ biggest concern, however, is that drug consumption is related to schizophrenia, and is not recommended for the treatment of psychotic-type mental disorders – contrary to what apologists advocate.
On the other hand, the evidence that marijuana has a positive effect in the treatment of insomnia, anxiety, bipolar disorder, among others, is of questionable quality.
In Brazil, there is concern that a decision similar to that of Colombia – such as the approval of the Regulatory Framework for Cannabis – will end up generating greater difficulty in the adequate inspection of the places where marijuana is planted, indiscriminately increasing its production and commercialization, in addition to opening the gap for doctors to prescribe all kinds of cannabis-based products, without taking into account their true risks.
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