Senate to discuss medicinal cannabis again

Senator Luis Carlos Heinze (PP-RS) will present, in the coming weeks, a request to the Senate's Committee on Agriculture and Agrarian Reform (CRA) to hold a public hearing on medicinal cannabis. According to Heinze, the goal is to bring technical experts into the political field to discuss research and the progress of the agenda in Brazil.

Author of Bill No. 4,471/2025, which deals with the destination of seized cannabis for the production of medicines, the senator claims to be willing to engage in dialogue to gain support. "Damares has a different point, I have to talk to her. Girão (Eduardo Girão) has issues that I need to work on. I will present what I have thought, exchange ideas, and ask for support," he explained to Portal Sechat.

Heinze believes his project has the potential to advance in Congress. "In a country with so much need and demand, I thought about this and I want to convince them that they need to help me in this endeavor," he says. In the justification of the bill, he highlights that just last year, over 1.4 million kilograms of cannabis were seized in Brazil. According to his calculations, this volume could serve 70,000 patients.

The senator also points out that the country spends nearly 1 billion dollars on imported products to meet judicial demands. "I can produce this medication here, generate jobs here in Brazil, and save lives," he argues.

Logistics and next steps of the Bill

Regarding the processes of collection, storage, and analysis of the raw material, Heinze states that this would be a second step. He cites as an example a project from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), which used seized cannabis, and argues that universities, with the support of the private sector, can lead the process.

"This is a chain that we have to study. I only calculated how much marijuana is incinerated and could have another destination." Determined, the senator says he intends to "make the project move forward." Heinze recalls clashes he had with PT parliamentarians for over six years on another front, when he worked on an initiative to map flood-prone areas in Rio Grande do Sul, intended for the construction of reservoirs.

"I worked, my team worked, I talked to people on the other side who understood. You have to be patient, persistent, and work," he concludes. The work bore fruit, in March 2025, Heinze presented a study mapping 1,715 water accumulation points and projecting the irrigation of 104,000 hectares in the Missões and Northwest regions of Rio Grande do Sul. The proposal was discussed with mayors, financial institutions, producers, and representatives of the agricultural sector, who showed interest in implementing the project.

Cultivation still not under discussion

Initially, Heinze decided to focus on utilizing incinerated cannabis, highlighting the waste of resources and the urgency of patients. Still, an agronomist by training, he sees potential in national cultivation of the plant, but considers the debate more complex. "Brazilian agriculture is another alternative, but it already has projects under discussion. It is also a thorny issue, with opposing views, but one that deserves debate," he evaluates.