The Health Minister, Alexandre Padilha, held a meeting with representatives of the cannabis agenda from Santa Catarina. Among the participants of the meeting that took place in Brasília on Tuesday (3), was the president of the Santa Cannabis association, Pedro Sabaciauskis. The meeting addressed the role of entities in the regulation process of Medicinal Cannabis in Brazil.

According to Sabaciauskis, the approach happened during the minister's public agenda. "We used a political event, where the minister was speaking, to inquire about his support for associations and how they view this work," he explained.

The president of Santa Cannabis stated that Padilha showed support for regulation and mentioned his participation in the debate on PL 399/2015. "At a later time, we can present the importance of associations and our work plan. The minister committed to look into it attentively," he said.

Authored by former deputy Fábio Mitidieri (PSD-SE), PL 399/2015 proposes to amend article 2 of Law No. 11,343, of August 23, 2006. The measure enables the commercialization of medications containing extracts, substrates, or parts of the Cannabis sativa plant in their formulation.

While still serving as a federal deputy, Padilha introduced Bill No. 4,565/2019, which proposes to update Law No. 11,343/2006 to consider the quantity of 1 gram as the relative unit to an individual dose of THC (cannabis). Currently, the proposal is under consideration in the Health Committee of the Chamber of Deputies and awaits the appointment of a new rapporteur, after being returned without comment on September 11, 2024.

Sabaciauskis also highlighted the relevance of the meeting for the associative movement. "It was a historic opportunity to speak not only on behalf of Santa Cannabis or the associations of Santa Catarina but on behalf of hundreds of entities spread throughout the country, which fight daily for safe, democratic, and fair access to Medicinal Cannabis."

The meeting was arranged by councilwoman Carla Ayres (PT), from Florianópolis, and also had the participation of councilman Eduardo Zanatta (PT), from Balneário Camboriú. Federal deputy Pedro Uczai (PT-SC) played a key role in building this dialogue with the federal government.

Amid a decisive month

The cannabis sector entered a decisive month for its future. The Federal Government has until September 30 to publish the ordinance that regulates and supervises the production and access to cannabis derivatives for exclusively medicinal purposes.

Initially, the deadline was set for May 19, but the STJ approved an "additional deadline" until September, after the Attorney General's Office (AGU) presented an Action Plan for the Regulation and Supervision of Access to Drug Treatments Based on Cannabis.

The Action Plan guiding this regulation involves the participation of various Executive bodies and dialogue with experts, patient associations, scientific institutions, and representatives of the regulated sector. Among the stakeholders are the Ministries of Health, Justice and Public Security (MJSP), Agriculture and Livestock (MAPA), Agrarian Development and Family Farming (MDA), and the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa).