Approval of self-cultivation of medicinal Cannabis in Rosario sparks debate

The self-cultivation of Cannabis for therapeutic purposes has been debated for a long time in Rosario. Now the discussion, which was already controversial, has reached the Deliberative Council. The city is located in the central region of Argentina, 300 kilometers away from the capital Buenos Aires.

Recently, a decree from Ciudad Futura was approved to create the Registry of Therapeutic and Solidarity Cultures of Cannabis. This was done with the aim of establishing a local regulatory framework that allows for responsible, safe, careful, and quality uses.

Justification for self-cultivation of medicinal Cannabis: more reliable production

The main objective is to prevent desperate individuals seeking to make medicinal oil from falling into the traps of those offering fake oil instead of medicinal Cannabis. Additionally, another concern is to interfere with an illegal market that does not provide any scientific rigor in the offered product, among other inconsistencies.

Although this is good news for certain sectors of society, there are others moving in the opposite direction. One of them is the NGO “No Child Left Behind for Drugs.” In their opinion, "the upper class" benefits and the Council "privileges" the pain of "friends" and not "the people."

Based on this initiative approved by the Palacio de Vasallo, which is the seat of the Legislature, the municipality is authorized to grant self-cultivation licenses. Another important point is that the identity and privacy of individuals are protected, and cases of therapeutic cultures are established for the treatment of symptoms and pathologies with the corresponding medical indication. Another regulation establishes that solidarity harvests are carried out by producers who commit to providing the raw material to those who need to administer Cannabis by medical indication.

Law defines how the council will be composed

The decree also provides for the creation of the Advisory Council on Cannabis Policies and its derivatives. Its purpose is to build the criteria and protocols that allow for the regulation of the decree, in accordance with provincial and national legislation, municipal regulations, and scientific advances on the subject.

Representatives from the respective secretariats of the Executive Department, the Health and Human Rights commissions of the Municipal Council, and organizations of medicinal Cannabis in the city will be part of this Council.

The Municipality of Rosario “will manage before the various Powers and instances of the State the agreements and authorizations necessary for compliance with the decree.” It is proposed that the municipality prioritize collaboration with public institutions, universities, and civil society organizations. It also defines that it is necessary to continue advancing in campaigns, training instances, and research studies on the subject.

Another point to highlight is that it is also defined that the Executive will carry out the respective agreements with the Faculty of Biochemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences of the National University of Rosario (UNR) with the mission of ensuring the corresponding analyses and tests. In the same vein, it will promote the public production of medicinal Cannabis-based medications from the province's public laboratories.

And finally, it will form a working group between the State, professionals, and Cannabis organizations with experience and knowledge on the subject, such as Mothers Who Are Planted, the Association of Users and Professionals for the Approach of Cannabis (Aupac), and the Rosarian Association of Cultural Studies (Arec), among others.

Priest criticizes self-cultivation licenses: laws favor the upper class, ignoring those in poverty

Father Fabián Belay is a historic priest who fights against social scourges such as poverty and drugs. He is a member of the NGO “No Child Left Behind for Drugs” and raises a strong criticism of the granting of licenses for self-cultivation with deep disappointment.

“It is very sad to see first-world laws that favor the upper class, without considering that we have 40% of the population in poverty, 50% of adolescents out of high school, that more and more children, girls, and adolescents are starting non-recreational consumption, and we have the highest mortality rates from violence in the country,” he told El Litoral.

“The State does not take responsibility for providing oil to those in need, but releases the planting so that farmers and progressive intellectuals from the center can add one more recreation. It seems that capitalist consumption is harmful, as long as it is not about drugs,” he added.

“The Council once again interpreted the pain of friends, not of the people. Unfortunately, many mothers and fathers will continue to visit hospitals, courts, morgues, government offices, cemeteries, etc. because today their struggles are not in fashion.”

For Belay, the poor will continue to die or will have to be anesthetized so that they do not dream, do not complain, cannot, do not speak, do not work, do not strive, are not named, because it is better that they kill themselves. “I pray that equal conditions and attention to the problem of the most vulnerable in society are declared,” he said.

A council member says that self-cultivation will facilitate access to medicinal Cannabis for those in need.

The legislator from Ciudad Futura, Jesica Pellegrini, said that the idea is to “create a municipal registry so that all people who cultivate Cannabis for therapeutic use can register and obtain authorization. Thus, the municipal state will support the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes. There are many cases where this use has changed the quality of life of those in need.”

“The idea is that those who need cannabis oil do not have to seek it clandestinely,” she added. “The effects that medicinal Cannabis produces in therapeutic form are of the highest value, and we want the State to accompany those who need it so that they can access it peacefully.”

The registry is for marijuana users for medicinal, palliative, therapeutic, and solidarity cultivators for third parties. Civil society organizations dedicated to the subject and that use cultivation for therapeutic use or to obtain information about its use can also register.

“We are promoting all of this to generate public policies so that everyone who needs oil does not have to buy online something that ends up being a scam. Many end up buying oil that has almost no Cannabis. It is important that the State begins to generate guarantees regarding this,” Pellegrini concluded.

Santa Fe already allows self-cultivation of Cannabis for medicinal purposes

Since Congress approved Law 27.350, which establishes a regulatory framework for medical and scientific research on the medicinal, therapeutic, or palliative use of the cannabis plant and its derivatives, many provinces in the country and several municipalities have created their own projects and taken their respective steps on the subject.

The coronavirus pandemic delayed the political debate that would have occurred in these months regarding the reform of the regulation of Law 27.350, contemplating self-cultivation. In the same context, the analysis of a possible legal regulation of cannabis was postponed. Nevertheless, cannabis for therapeutic use continues to advance in Argentina.

Less than two months ago, in the city of Santa Fe, the Council approved a system similar to the one just developed in Rosario. Santa Fe is the capital of the province of the same name, located in the northeast region, 470 kilometers from the capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires. This project enabled the creation of a registry of users and producers of therapeutic cannabis. It also requires that the municipality maintain a consultancy to provide information on how self-cultivation of cannabis can help them.

Santa Fe is one of the ten provinces in the country that already has legislation on the therapeutic use of Cannabis. There, a decree created a “voluntary registry of users and producers of medicinal Cannabis and its derivatives.” The confidentiality of the data is maintained, and cultivation requests are evaluated by an Advisory Council.

Source: Ignacio Pellizzón/El Litoral