First Central American Country with a Cannabis Bill

It has been trending for the past 2 weeks that Panama’s medical cannabis bill 242 was signed by President Laurentino Cortizo,   which was previously approved by the Parliament on August 30 and officially passed on October 13.

The country legalized the medicinal and therapeutic use of cannabis through a rule that regulates the import, export and cultivation of the plant and creates a registry of people authorized to use it for these purposes, becoming the first Central American country with a legal framework of this type.

This project, which had five years of discussion in the National Assembly (AN), will promote the use and monitored and controlled access of medicinal cannabis and its derivatives for therapeutic, medical, veterinary, scientific and research purposes throughout the national territory, according to a statement from the Presidency.

After years of fighting for the law to pass, it was finally approved last August by a vote of 44 lawmakers in favor and none voting against it.

In those five years, consensus was not reached due to commercial, licensing and regulatory issues, but mainly because the Ministry of Health (MINSA) of the previous government, was opposed to the cultivation of cannabis in the country.

What happens after the approval?

The cultivation of marijuana won’t be illegal in Panama anymore, but of course the new law regulates the evaluation, monitoring and control of import, export, cultivation, production, manufacturing and laboratory analysis activities, and proper use of seeds, among others.

The law will be effective as soon as it is published in the Official newspaper (La Gaceta Oficial).

Besides the creation of a registry of persons authorized for consumption, the document makes it clear that the Ministry of Health will be in charge of issuing licenses for the import, acquisition and marketing, and prohibits the individual sale of products derived from medicinal cannabis to be sent directly to homes/offices in Panama and online sales are also prohibited.

The Parliament (National Assembly) reported last August that the norm establishes that the Ministry of Health may define the number of licenses to manufacture medicinal cannabis derivatives but that, as a preventive measure, “up to five years from the enactment of the law, only up to seven licenses may be authorized (…) in order to supervise and monitor the development of the internal market.”

“After the five-year period described above has expired, the number of previously approved licenses cannot be reduced,” said the Parliament’s statement.

In addition, the law authorizes the Minsa to create the National Program for the Study and Medicinal Use of Cannabis and its Derivatives, in order to promote research, educational initiatives and proper use, indicated a statement from the AN.

Latin American countries that have approved the medicinal use:

• Argentina

• Chile

• Colombia

• Ecuador

• Jamaica

• Panama

• Paraguay

• Perú

• Puerto Rico

In some regions with deep inequalities, citizens believe that licensing programs benefit only powerful interests. This should be essential for cannabis advocates throughout Latin America and other emerging markets. Furthermore, cannabis legalization efforts may gain broader support if they are seen as an economic opportunity for citizens.

Group effort

Several State institutions, the Judicial Body, patient unions and non-profit associations participated decisively in the discussion of the proposal. Dr. Sandra Carrillo, Medical Cannabis Specialist, has been a key contributor in the project, and she has kept the online community updated with how the bill has progressed.

According to Carrillo, this is part of what has to happen next:

-MINSA will determine which pharmacies may carry out the sale and distribution, subject to strict sanitary controls with good manufacturing, preparation, supervision and monitoring practices.

– A Cannabis Technical Council to be established will have two (2) representatives from organizations of patients with chronic degenerative diseases.

– For the first 2 years from the date of approval of a license, companies may import products to supply the patients of the Program of Cannabis use and the national market for this period of time.

Background

Back in October 2019, Legislator Kayra Harding introduced a bill (Proyecto de Ley No. 323) to promote the development of the hemp industry in Panama. The delays that the project had were attributed to ignorance when it comes to hemp and how it differs from marijuana. There were also concerns within the Panamanian citizenry that the development of the hemp industry will only advance powerful business interests.

Then in 2021 bill 153 was approved which established four license categories: importation of cannabis derivates, production of cannabis derivates, cultivation, and research. In the case of license applicants who are natural persons, the new law requires them to provide their nationality, which logically suggests that foreign nationals may be granted licenses; the bill does not specify whether Panamanian residence is required. As to legal persons, the bill requires that they provide their Public Registry information.

Once the bill is signed into law, Panama will be in a somewhat odd situation: It will have a legal regime for medical cannabis, but not one for hemp. This could  be rectified, with the passage of Bill 323.

The legalization process, unfortunately, has been tainted by accusations of corruption. La Prensa newspaper reported that a Canadian company, Canna Med Panama SA, “was not only attentive to the debates in the National Assembly to approve Bill 153, which seeks to regulate the use of medicinal cannabis, but also sponsored a trip to Louisiana by five officials, some key in making decisions about the future business of the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes.”

Former Minister of Public Security, Rodolfo Aguilera, stated to the same newspaper: “sponsoring this trip to officials compromises the security of the country, because a bad decision by them when approving licenses would generate a lack of control over the production and commercialization of cannabis.” He warned that there are companies that recruit officials to favor them with contracts later.

We are still trying to find more details about this incident.

What about Costa Rica?

The Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica approved on Tuesday, October 19, the first debate about the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes, despite opposition from the president, Carlos Alvarado, and conservative groups. This means that tomorrow the bill 21.388 will be discussed again, and it might get approved, but if it does, we will have to wait for the President’s decision.

We will be following this topic for both countries, Central America is closer to become a great cannabis market.