Abrace launches campaign for PL-399 to be named Anny Fischer Law
To reinforce the identity of the law, a patient association suggests that the PL be named after the first girl to successfully import Cannabis in Brazil in 2014
Valéria França
The patient association from Paraíba, Abrace Esperança, officially launched on Sunday (23) the campaign for the Bill 399-2015 - which proposes the cultivation of Cannabis - to be named Anny Fischer. The idea is to honor the first patient who obtained authorization from the Justice to import medicinal Cannabis in Brazil in 2014.
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"Every law needs a name to be known. An example is the Maria da Penha Law (to combat domestic and family violence against women)", says the association's founder Cassiano Teixeira. He already had this idea in mind even before the PL was submitted to the Chamber of Deputies to President Rodrigo Maia last Tuesday (18).
The Abrace founder first made the proposal during the press conference held by deputies Paulo Teixeira (PT-SP) and Luciano Ducci (PSB-PR) on Wednesday (19). That day, the proposal was left hanging, without any comments from the legislators or attendees in the room.
During the live he participated in on Sechat's Instagram, the Abrace founder reiterated it. He then asked for permission over the phone to launch the campaign to Anny's father, Norberto Fischer, who agreed.
Committee recognizes and praises the importance of the patients' and families' fight
Deputy Paulo Teixeira (PT-SP), president of the Special Cannabis Committee, a group that analyzed and drafted the substitute text, had already highlighted the role of the patients' parents in the battle for the right to treatment with plant-based medicines. "It was the patients and families who started this fight," he said at the press conference.
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The deputy made a point of mentioning Norberto and Katiely Fischer, as well as Cidinha Carvalho, Clárian's mother, and Margarete Brito, Sofia's mother. All these children have rare syndromes that were controlled with the help of medicinal Cannabis.
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Bill 399-2015 is fundamentally concerned with increasing access to Cannabis treatments. Regulating cultivation was the way the Committee found to lower production costs, which according to the project should also be distributed by the Unified Health System.
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Currently, the two medications available in Brazilian pharmacies cost an average of R$ 2,500 each. Imported medications, authorized for patients, are paid in dollars, which with the current exchange rate hike weighs heavily on the Brazilian's pocket.