There are more and more countries that are willing to legalize the use of medicinal cannabis, and every day more studies are done that talk about the positive effects that cannabinoids can have on certain disorders and illnesses like cancer, Crohn’s disease or glaucoma. In this case, we’re talking about the Argentinian government who has decided to join this group on the road to legalizing cannabis. The Argentinian government wants to go big, growing free cannabis for patients!
In Argentina a lot of associations have been fighting for medicinal cannabis use for some time; a lot of people practically need it to keep going or they’ll have to begin using morphine. One of the most influencial associations is Mama Cultiva, an association of mothers that have extremely ill children that use cannabis as alternatives to other stronger medications that have side effects like morphine. RUCAM (Red de Usuarios de Cannabis Medicinal – Network of Medicinal Cannabis Users) is another important organization that helped get the law changed; its members have a variety of different illnesses like AIDS, hepatitis and lupus, illnesses that have extremely painful treatments and without the use of cannabis those who suffer these illnesses would be practically tranquilized all day.
Growing plants privately is still completely forbidden, so that’s something Argentinians still have to wait for. Instead, the government will take care of growing the plants with which they will then treat patients that need that sort of therapy. This is a gigantic step forward given the fact that beforehand it was completely illegal to consume cannabis in any way or form. Even then, organizations that are in favor of medicinal cannabis still don’t think that this is enough. If the government were to authorize the use of medicinal marijuana, patients could grow their own and make their own resin and BHO extractions at home, which is what people do in Uruguay. The government also shouldn’t be investing public money in something that doesn’t affect everyone.
To get free cannabis, patients need to fall under one of the illnesses stipulated by the law. It’s not completely clear yet what kinds of illnesses are going to be included, but a few sure ones are cancer, Crohn’s disease, refractory epilepsy and polyneuritis.
Once you can prove that you suffer from one of these illnesses and have the corresponding doctor’s note, you can register in the Voluntary National Register of Patients and Patients’ Family Members.
These sorts of improvements in certain countries are helping medicinal cannabis use be seen in a better light; a lot of countries still completely deny something that we all know is true. We hope that this wave of countries using therapeutic marijuana doesn’t stop, and that people suffering all over the world can begin to reap the benefits.
Translation: Ciara Murphy
