Bahia enacts law guaranteeing free medicinal cannabis through SUS
Approved at the Bahia Legislative Assembly, the new law ensures the free supply of cannabis-based medications through SUS for patients with serious illnesses
The Bahia Legislative Assembly promulgated Law No. 14,932/2025 on June 17, guaranteeing the free supply of cannabis-based medications to SUS patients. The initiative, authored by Deputy Euclides Fernandes, represents a milestone in public health care and in combating prejudice surrounding medicinal cannabis.
Treatment with care and evidence
The law allows, starting from its effective date, expected 90 days after promulgation, the State of Bahia to offer, free of charge and exceptionally, medications derived from Cannabis sativa to patients with a medical prescription who meet the criteria of the State Health Department.
The text covers clinical conditions that already have scientific support in the therapeutic use of cannabis: refractory epilepsy, autism, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, among others. It is science allied with empathy, reaching homes where pain was daily and treatments were often inaccessible.
"A fight for dignity"
Deputy Euclides Fernandes, author of the law, emphasized that this achievement is not just technical, it is profoundly human. "The fight for this law is, above all, a fight for dignity. There are thousands of Bahian families who live daily with the suffering of their loved ones and who will now have a more accessible and humane path to treatment," he said.
The proposal was approved by a large majority in the plenary and promulgated by the President of ALBA, Deputy Ivana Bastos, ensuring immediate validity and legal certainty to the text.
Towards a responsible public policy
To ensure the effectiveness and safety of the program, the law requires the creation of a state registry for the control and monitoring of benefiting patients. A technical report, medical prescription, and proof of economic insufficiency will also be required.
During the three months preceding its entry into force, it will be up to the State Health Department to define the distribution protocols, monitoring, and eligibility criteria. The text also provides for integration with research entities, training of health professionals, and educational campaigns, a true public policy built on solid foundations.
Bahia paves the way
The promulgation of Law No. 14,932/2025 puts Bahia on the map of states that recognize, through their own legislation, the right to comprehensive health care. A step that resonates in every mother who cannot sleep, in every father who carries in his arms a child in crisis, in every elderly person seeking quality of life in their final years.
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