Brazil Approves Cannabis-Based Products Sold in Pharmacies

Health group vetos cultivation and sales will be restricted to prescription medicine

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Natália Cancian
Brasília

Brazil’s national health agency --ANVISA -- approved yesterday new rules for the registration of cannabis-based products for medicinal purposes in the country, authorizing their sale in pharmacies.

By three votes to one, the agency rejected a proposal that would endorse cultivation for research and production of medicines - which in practice will force companies to import raw materials.

(FILES) In this file photo taken on April 24, 2019 A worker checks cannabis plants in a greenhouse of Tilray medical cannabis producer's European production site in Cantanhede, Portugal. - After North America, the cannabis industry dreams of conquering the European market -- Britain in particular -- and is banking on changing the image of the psychoactive plant, despite regulatory constraints and ethical debates. (Photo by PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA / AFP) - AFP

Nonetheless, HempMeds, the first company to bring drugs to Brazil, saw the move as an important step, especially in reducing the cost to patients.

In an injunction of the Federal Court of the Federal District, another company also yesterday obtained authorization to import, plant and market products based on industrial hemp.

Translated by Kiratiana Freelon

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